Arjen Lucasson, the brainchild behind the rock opera project Ayreon,
decided to change things up a bit. Through listening to Ayreon's sci-fi keyboard
effects running everywhere, you can tell he's been dying to do something like
this. The album sounds exactly what you'd expect something like "Space Metal" to
sound like. Heavy guitar riffs, fast solos, impressive drumming, cheesy
futuristic keyboards, and a very impressive line of vocalists.

Russel Allen, Damian Wilson, Dan Swan', and Floor Jansen are the vocalists.
These are all pretty big names in the metal world, and they all do an
outstanding job on vocals. You've got a futuristic power metal sound with all of
these voices and keyboards and guitar riffs and everything flying around.
Whether you're playing a videogame or reading a book listening to this or lying
on your bed staring at the ceiling, this music is going to catch your attention.

"Set Your Controls" has Russel Allen doing his best vocal performance on the
album, with Damien Wilson helping out with his unique voice. The next song,
"High Moon", slows things down a bit with a crunching guitar riff and Dan
Swan''s haunting clean voice both being worth mention. "Songs of the Ocean" is
the catchy song of the album. Master of Darkness, like its name might
imply, is heavier and darker. Nice keyboards in this song as well.

The miniature epic "The Eye of Ra" is the standout song of the album. The
beginning and the end sound different, but Floor Jansen's majestic voice carries
this song to previously unexplored heights throughout the album. "Sandrider" and
"Perfect Survivor" are both great, but aren't anything different than what
you've heard. The second catchiest song is next, and features the most
ridiculously cheesy title I've ever seen, next to a few Rhapsody have pumped
out. The song is "Intergalactic Space Crusader" and functions both as an
excellent song in itself and as a great way of paving the path to the last
track, the nine-minute "Starchild" which is equally impressive as "The Eye of
Ra" was.

All in all, a pretty unique sound. Any progressive metal fan, power metal fan,
Dan Swan' fan, Ayreon fan, catchy music fan... needs this CD. It's incredibly
cheesy, but it's done in a very tasteful manner. It doesn't take itself as
seriously as Rhapsody should, and thanks to this we're left with one of the best
sideprojects ever to record a CD.