Reviews of "Nostradamus"

NIKOLO KOTZEV’S NOSTRADAMUS
(Steamhammer/SPV)


The Nostradamus rock opera is the project of Bulgarian born Nikolo Kotzev. This project is quite the undertaking and looks at the life of the man behind the predictions of the future, Nostradamus. The cast assembled to make this album come together is nonetheless, very impressive. You have Glenn Hughes, Joe Lynn Turner, Goran Edman, Doogie White, Alannah Myles, Sass Jordan, and Jorn Lande all being cast into their roles with Joe Lynn Turner handling the duties as the main man Nostradamus.

The rock opera thing seems to be gaining a bit of ground. We are starting to see more and more of them and a variety of subjects being covered. With this album, the music does a good job of setting the mood and tempo of each individual segment of the story. There may be aggression in times of anger or calmness in times of solitude. The musicians may be familiar to some. John Leven, Mic Michaeli, and Ian Haugland frm Europe. There is also Nikolo handling a good portion himself like guitars, keyboards, violin, etc. Also assembled is a 35 piece orchestra directed by Nelko Kolarov. The story is broken into three acts with smaller segments of the story in each act divided by timeline. The way you should really listen to something of this magnitude is to read along and totally absorb yourself into the story. It really enhances the whole thing. Tempo of music as mentioned before covers good range that is dependent on what is happening in the story. It is all of Rock nature for those who need it categorized.

This has to be one of the most ambitious things I have personally seen. Just take a look at the book on this album. Thicker than most. Contains great pictures of the cast and a very complete story. Musically the album is hitting on all cylinders. This is one of those albums that is typically a monumentous task and is usually under appreciated by the fans. If you can get into serious storyline and technical music, this album has a lot to offer. If you are looking for the typical cliches, look for something else. This album must be heard to be appreciated. It comes pretty highly recommended!


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