What's going on? I'm receiving amazing progressive metal albums one after another. And each of them seems to top the preceding artist. Apparently the Laser's Edge (and its divisions) have gathered themselves quite a promising artist roster. Their latest found is novAct, a very promising Dutch progressive metal group. One of the strengths of this group is their vocalist, Eddy Borremans, who has an uncanny ability to convey his emotions through his distinctive voice. In addition, their compositions are simply elaborate and ingenious.

Although Tales from the Soul (to Those Who Understand) is the debut album of novAct, the band members aren't inexperienced at all. Prior to founding novAct (in February 2001 novAct was founded by Wouter Wamelink, but it was known as Morgana-X back then), all the members of the band had worked on various projects over the preceding years — Stentorian, Cardiac Compression and Perpetual Demise to name a few. NovAct's 'Tales from the Soul (to Those Who Understand)' is definitely a specimen of skill, since it contains melodic progressive metal songs that favourably surprise even the experienced listener. They just have the perfect blend of complexity, melody, harmony and texture in their arrangements. As the icing on the cake, there are Eddy Borremans vocals.

The production and mixing of 'Tales from the Soul (to Those Who Understand)' was handled by Oliver Philipps and Christian 'Moschus' Moos. The sounds are actually very apposite with rich ambience and astonishing clarity. This album was mastered by EROC at E.M.R. (EROC's Mastering Ranch, Breckerfeld, Germany). There's no clipping and distortion, so EROC has definitely pulled his weight finely.

NovAct's debut album 'Tales from the Soul (to Those Who Understand)' is an exquisite tour-de-force of progressive metal. There's no need to compare them to other acts since it could be considered as underestimation. Listeners of metal (whether it's progressive or not) should definitely place their order for this album. This is unquestionably the best debut album I've ever heard. Of course there might be better debut albums that I've listened in the past, but for the time being novAct's debut feels great. It will be hard for novAct to surpass my expectations with their upcoming second full-length album (which is already being composed).

Release date: February 22nd, 2005

There's a sample of "The Rider" on the Laser's Edge website for you to listen.

All the snippets of this album can be found from the media section of the official novAct website.

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- MAGE (February 21st, 2005)

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LINE-UP:
Borremans, Eddy: Vocals Wamelink, Wouter: Guitars Reessink, Michiel: Keyboards van Maanen, Jeroen: Bass Peters, Martijn: Drums
Producer:	Philipps, Oliver and Moos, Christian 'Moschus'
Mixing by:	Philipps, Oliver and Moos, Christian 'Moschus'
Mastering by:	EROC

	TRACKLIST:
	01. Sharply Condemned 02. Hope and Fear 03. Eternal Life 04. Path of Daggers 05. So Help Me God 06. Flower 07. The Rider 08. Nothing Worth Fighting For 09. Promises 10. Bad Religion Length: 52:06