Not quite a heavy metal album but definitely a distant relative to the genre that deserves praise. I was very impressed with this offering of progressive rock music. The album has its heavy moment or two but for the most part this is rock with a lot of soft moments but the combination of everything combined produces winning results.

The album opener “When Alpha and Omega Collide” is my favorite song here as it drew me right in to the music with its Rush like harder opening. I knew from the start that I would love lead singer Arno Menses as he has a very strong voice that matches the music well. The arrangements and passages in this song are some of the better I have heard as of late in the world of progressive music. “Iconic” is very light and sounds like a modern Christian rock song but it is very good. Topics discussed in this tune include Jesus Christ, Moses, and the Ten Commandments which I found very cool. “Where Our Shadows Sleep” clocks in at over seven minutes and features some cool acoustic guitar work early on. “Mounting Castles in the Blood Red Sky” is a very moving instrumental in which between the different sections of music is Martin Luther King Jr’s legendary “I had a dream…” speech. The title track “Paramount” clocks in at over eight minutes and includes the sounds of saxophone which add a great touch to this song.

This album kept my attention beginning to end and took me on a nice journey through a diversity of emotions. Coming from one of Germany’s elite progressive rock bands I highly recommend this album. Sit back, relax, and let the music do the work. If you have an open mind and can appreciate the softer side of rock/metal than this is for you. Often a person likes myself needs a little break from the all out heaviness of the majority of the music I listen to and needs some variety. Sieges Even is my answer to that and I am happy I came upon this album.