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Pictorial Wand "A Sleepers Awakening”

When it comes to the movies some people love “epics.” You know those big sprawling three-hour extravaganzas like Gone with the Wind, Cleopatra, or the more recent King Kong. Well in the world of progressive rock we too have epics, but few are as sprawling as the debut release from the Norwegian project Pictorial Wand entitled A Sleepers Awakening. Now this is an epic! A 2-disc set, with 17 musicians/vocalists and 3-years in the making. As far as symphonic prog recordings go they don’t come much bigger. ***

I mentioned this is a project and that’s because it’s primarily the work of Mattis Sorum who plays all the guitars, organs, keyboards and created the orchestral arrangements. He then brought in a host of other musicians and vocalists to perform specific parts to bring this concept work to life. The story, one that can easily apply to anyone of us, is about a person who comes to the realization of his mistakes and the selfish manner in which his life has been led. ***

A Sleeper’s Awakening is an expansive story with a lot going on musically. It is essentially symphonic progressive rock but while one track will be sweetly acoustic the next may border on prog metal and then the next will be more straight ahead rock. I’m reminded of that old weather cliché, if you don’t like this particular composition wait a couple minutes, because it’ll change completely. The musicianship is first rate. The music is predominantly melodic with a strong acoustic thread, where the harsher electric guitar is used to accent certain story points. Throughout you hear a lot of flute, cello, oboe, and violin. At times A Sleeper’s Awakening becomes hugely orchestral, majestic, and panoramic in nature. Vocals alternate between the male lead character and three female vocalists who each sing the parts of story’s conflicts. And with two discs, there’s a lot to absorb here. Throughout you’ll here a little child’s voice reading moralistic tales from a book, which as it turns out is the lead character’s childhood reflection. Most of the songs are longer, anywhere from 7 to 12 minutes and surprisingly there’s lots of “space” within them. You don’t get bombarded with song after song here; rather the musical development takes a more leisurely path. ***

Pictorial Wand’s A Sleeper’s Awakening is quite an accomplished first effort. The compositions are well developed, arranged precisely, performed meticulously, and lyrically thought provoking. It took Mattis Sorum three years to bring this project to fruition and you can really hear the results of that dedication. If you enjoy big panoramic melodic symphonic rock this is definitely a CD you need to pick up. You will not be disappointed. ***