Vivien Lalu, a.k.a. Expedition Delta’s man behind the keyboards, teamed up with some great musicians and formed a new project – Shadrane. “Temporal” is their first official recording and we got a peak at this intriguing progressive rock/metal opera.

Even though they walk down Ayreon’s music path, they manage to present an album far more interesting than the renowned above mentioned band’s last attempts. The guest-list may not be as shiny, but Henrik Beth (Harmony, Darkwater),  Bjorn Jansson (ex-Beyond Twilight) and Goran Edman (Brazen Abbot,Vinnie Vincent Invation, ex-Time Requiem ex-Yngwie Malmsteen) on vocals really stand out, alongside Gregg Bissonette, David Lee Roth’s drummer.

Temporal’s pretty exciting compositions serve as the stones piled besides the catapult. Despite the atmospheric nature of most songs, the aforementioned vocalists and Joop Wolters (Elysion) on guitars serve as the cornerstone, leaving Lalu’s keyboards on the background. The 49 minutes (13 songs) comprising the album fly by, never leaving a hint of boredom, as does the fantasy space concept, in harmonic concordance with the music. Highlights are the last 4 songs, while 3 instrumental interludes add to the final outcome, increasing the atmospheric tension.

Progressive metal operas may be hard to come across these days, as the genre is generally regarded outdated. Shadrane’s debut though provides a pretty decent choice for those about to… opera-rock.  If you don’t seem to remember when the last time you enjoyed such a record was, dig in. Surely, we did. Now, we can only hope that Shadrane won’t fail to rise up to meet our expectations for the next album.