Music
Press
Time's Forgotten had everyone talking when they released their first album, A fresh breath on the overly satured Prog Metal market. Of course, after a such magnificent effort, everyone was with very high expectations about their second album. The question is: Does "Dandelion" lives on the hype? The answer is easy, a clear and big "YES" (caps intended).
Dandelion presents an stronger Time's Forgotten, with heavier guitar work, and more intricate compositions and musicianship, but still keeping the -now traditional- Time's Forgotten sound. I've always said that, when you can pick a band over the others just by indentifying their trademark sound, it's a sign that they are doing things good.
The musical landscape that Dandelion presents us is very wide; going from the typical prog-metal-technical riffs, to some mellow rock-related passages, finding on the way some strokes of electronic music, classic mellotron moments, irish-esque flute passages, and some mystic chants and melodies that carry us to a very picturesque portrait. But don't let that variety of sounds fool you, all the music spins around a centric idea, making the album feel like a whole, and not like a bunch of song thrown there nosenseless .
Longui (main vocalist) surpass himself by a very wide margin (in comparison to the first release). On of my first complains about "A relative moment of peace" was his performance. I was by no means bad, BUT, neither was at the quality of the whole album. On "Dandelion" he sounds a lot lot better his highs are pretty impressive, and the soft, mellower parts works very good for him too, that helped by the fact that the quality recording if very good, same with the vocal melodies.
Speaking of vocal melodies, Time's Forgotten really knows when and how to used them right. Most of the time, there are several layer of voice on the mix, adding a great touch to the music, and in more specific cases, there are very memorable chorus (keeping the catchy Time's trademark) present on the whole album. "Everything's not lost" and "Backhome" comes to mind. Also, we can't left unmentioned "Welcome you my night" (Best song on the album, in my opinion), with its epic chants at the beginning-end.
Fortunately, the rifting is also catchy, yet at the same time very powerful and intricate. I can even venture to say that the guitar work is the best part of the whole picture. It's obvious that the band put a lot of effort on getting this right, and they succeeded very well. From the electro-disco feeling present on "Indifferent", to the heavy-crunchy riff (Paired with a nice vocal work) at the middle of "The Tale of Moon and Sun", every song had their single special something that can make stand among the others
My only significant complaint is that, the flute / Celtic passages could have been a lot more linked to the song itself. Sometimes, although they sound cool, these irish-esque parts feels very very separate from the song,
Overall, this is a very recommended album for both those who enjoy some Progressive Metal, and for those who also enjoy some good, softer prog rock. Summarizing even more, this album should be accessible for everyone that enjoys good music.
4.6 / 5 - ultracoola for Prog Archives
Dandelion not only surpasses the already excellent A Relative Moment of Peace, it is a definitive step forward in fact. The band decides to go heavier this time, however this does not sacrifice the balance of acoustic moments and world music/electronic passages of the debut. The heavy parts are incredible well constructed with intensive guitar riffs and killing keyboard playing, all supported with superb harmony vocals. The choice to include whistles was a critical one, as it fits perfectly with the signature acoustic identity of Time's Forgotten: mellow acoustic guitars, mellotron and piano. The electronic nerve of the band is specially highlighted in the third track, Indifferent, in which it is melted with a guitar loop to create a groovy atmosphere to the song. My favorite songs are The Tale of the Sun and Moon (Dandelion) with a great work of acoustic and electric guitars and Silent Waters, an experimental track with pipes, piano, synthesized strings and whispered voices. This is a very complex record, full of rich melodies and excellent compositions, almost flawless. Highly Recommended! 4.5 Stars. - Raul Bonilla for Prog Archives
Time`s Forgotten was formed back in 2004 in San Jose, Costa Rica. They’re foremost a Progressive Metal band but unlike it’s peers they experiment with various styles not associated with the genre such as electronica, folk and ethnic elements to name a few.
The end result is on their debut “A Relative Moment of Peace”. The album was over 2 years in the making and released in August 2006.
Since the release, they played various venues but it wasn’t until Baja Prog 2007 that they had a international breakthrough with an amazing captivating performance. This was my first exposure to the band. After their performance, the band‘s manager recognized who I was then offered me their CD to review. I graciously accepted as I wanted to hear the studio versions of what I heard that day.
Now months after their BajaProg debut, I still hear what appealed to me that day. While the basics of the album are in progressive metal mold, it’s those aforementioned elements that make them special. This is evident in the CD’s main piece called “This Troubled Heart Of Mine”. It’s done in four parts with each one significly longer than the previous. The final part, which is the grand finale of the CD, is part 4. This 17 plus minute progressive epic, is worth the price of admission alone.
One of the best things about Time’s Forgotten, is that they step up and go beyond the typical Dream Theater, Queensryche or Fates Warning mold. In my mind when I want to hear “progressive” metal, I will pick out Time’s Forgotten‘s debut. as it’s quickly becoming my favorite progressive metal release since “Images and Words“. In fact in many ways to my ears, “A Relative Moment of Peace” is stylistically and dynamically better and deserves a high recommendation. - Ron Fuchs for Prognaut
Discography
"A Relative Moment of Peace" 2006
Singles: Walking Towards the Sun, Tearing me apart, The Spectrum of Light
"Dandelion" 2009
Singles: Second Time, Gone into the Mountains, Everything's not Lost
Photos
Bio
Time’s Forgotten, the Costa Rican “progressive rock band” was born on the year 2004 in San José,
Costa Rica, with the intention of experimenting with diverse textures and sounds to be fusioned
with rock music, including electronic music, ethnic elements and heavy metal.
After working on the production of their first album “A Relative Moment of Peace”, during a two and
a half year period, the record was released in august of 2006, surprising the Costa Rican market with
very considerable sales, considering that this is a band that had never played live before. In november
of that year, the band`s first concert was scheduled on the Eugene O`Neill Theater in San José,
with the idea of presenting the record to the fans that filled completely the seats of the theater;
even people were left outside the venue without a ticket.
For January of 2007 the band presented their album for the second time, this time in the beautiful
Anfitheatre of the National Center of Culture of Costa Rica in front of an impressive crowd,
outstanding for being the band`s second show.
Beside the achievements at a national level, Time’s Forgotten was invited to participate on one of
the most important progressive rock festivals on the planet: the Baja Prog festival in Mexicali,
Mexico, where they shared the stage with some of the greatest names in the progressive genre,
something never before achieved by a Costa Rican band.
During the last year Time’s Forgotten has shared the stage with international bands such as Angra
from Brasil, EZOO and CAST from Mexico, and made several important appearances in Costa Rica.
By the end of 2007 the band has received several international and very good reviews on
important media such as the Progression Magazine, Prog Archives, Mellotron Magazine, Prog Naut
and many others for their debut album.
For 2009 the Time’s Forgotten released their second album entitled Dandelion which has already given the band lots of success in their own country and is expected to be released abroad before the end of the year.
Links
