Mind's Eye
Walking on H2O

April 2006
Released: 2006, Lion Music
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Rick

Daunting. That’s the only way to describe the review situation I am faced with. I have a pile of Cds stretching from here to October that need to be done ASAP and the only way to get it done is to dive right in and do it. Where to begin? The first CD that comes to my hand is the new disc from Swedish prog metallers Mind’s Eye. Now the band has been around for almost 10 years and this is their 4th release but unfortunately I haven’t heard of this band before. Now that they are on Lion Music they will get a bigger push as Lion seems to revel in releasing the best in instrumental, melodic and prog metal.



WALKING ON H20 is 12 songs with the obligatory intro which in this case is called “Earth – The Movie” and is a spoken intro of what seems to be a teacher explaining evolution to a classroom followed by various excerpts of JKF speaking of reaching the moon. It is an apt intro because this CD has a theme which runs throughout its songs dealing with the evolution of mankind. Though I don’t know if I would call this a concept record it certainly deals with a number of ways in which man interacts with each other and the earth. “A Rabbit in the Hat” deals with mans apparent moon flights and if they even took place. Are they just a hoax that everyone believed? Did we get blinded by our own desire to believe that we are capable of anything? “Sahara in an Hourglass” brings a Middle Eastern flavour to the disc and deals with our relationships with each other while the CD closes out with the epic track “Poseidon Says”.



Though this could be termed prog metal there is a decided lack of over the top musicianship similar to what can be found with many other prog metal bands. Mind’s Eye instead rely on solid songwriting that harkens back to the 70s and 80s and bands such as Yes and Genesis while also incorporating a slightly more aggressive approach ala early Queensryche. The production is a bit on the slick side but that is just trying to find fault with this CD. The musicianship is superb, the vocals and vocal melodies are interesting and the songwriting is top notch. Mind’s Eye have created an album that could stand as one of the best of the year.