Band : Pagan’s Mind
Album title : Heavenly Ecstasy
Label : SPV Records
Distributor : Suburban
Release Date : 23/05/2011
Release : CD

The most recent album by Pagan’s Mind is available in 3 different forms, a normal CD, a limited edition digipack CD (which includes 2 bonus tracks and a poster), or finally a double LP in orange vinyl (also including 2 bonus tracks).  For the review I had to make do with the normal jewel case CD, which contains 11 tracks.
So this is the fifth studio album by this Norwegian band. Now whereas you could put that Norway is more known for it’s black metal and power metal bands, Pagan’s Mind deliver a mix between power metal and progressive metal.  This was the first time I ever heard something from this band, and  I admit I liked it a lot.

What must be said immediately is that with Nils K. Rue they’ve got a first class vocalist.  At times he even sounds a bit like Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche).  The other musicians are not too be forgotten though,.  What’s also striking is that there’s a lot of difference in the songs themselves stylewise.
You not only get power metal and progressive metal, but you also get some hints of nu-metal and even some death metal.  There’s one song that’s very hard to categorize, and that’s ‘Live Your Life Like A Dream’, because that song has got more of a poppy sound to it. So all in all a very good effort by these Norwegians.

85/100

Erik Morren.