The T 666 I've read the same comment many times when time comes to speak about prog-metal bands: "oh, this band is just a DREAM THEATERclone", "another one of the endless herd of DT clones", and as much as I tried, I never could find that one album that truly made me believe the same experiment that generated Dolly the Sheep was repeated with the New York band.

That is, of course, until I heard the voice of a lemur, disguised as a prog-metal band.

I have a serious problem with LEMUR VOICE: it sounds too much like DT, like "Awake"-era DT, to be precise. The cloning accusations really are on target this time, and I've begun some research to find out how someone got ahold of DT's ADN and used it to create this group.

The band LEMUR VOICE is no more, it has ceased to exist long ago. So there would be no point in me worrying about future releases. But, in case you're interested in buying this cd, I'll say a few words about the music.

This is really a copy/paste exercise. The musicians are very capable, and can surely play their instruments with skill and virtuosity. The problem is that the music itself is not that interesting. As I said before, it's very much reminiscent of "Awake", but without the inspiration, the melodies, the energy, and, especially, without the originality of that legendary release. Even though the songs aren't that bad, there's nothing new to listen to here. It also lacks punch; it's like the musicians are playing trying to emulate their favorite band but without even leaving his heart on the floor for that, without breaking a sweat, they seem like they were playing by inertia. And the singer? Well, he's just not good. His voice sounds like if FATES WARNING's Ray Alder had suddenly lost 10 years and also 10 pints of blood, as the delivery is bland, monotonous, bleak, lineal. Completely fuel-less.

About the songs, all sound about the same. The first track is the better one with vocals, and for sure the second one (the instrumental "Akasha Chronicles") is the best in the album. Actually, if they had recorded a purely instrumental album with more tracks like that one, it would have been a pleasant experience and worthy of maybe 3 or 4 stars. But, as it is, these two tracks barely save the album from 1 star status.

Stay away from the Lemur.

This is recommended for ultra-hardcore fans of DT that want ALL of their music to sound almost exactly like DT.

The T 666 It's a bit of an irony that, what ultimately killed the lemur was its voice.

I really don't know the reason behind the Dutch band's disappearance from the music world. But if the reason has anything to do with the band never getting a good record deal or never becoming famous at least within the progressive-metal community, I think the mediocre vocals of its singer have a lot to do with it.

The worst thing about the demise of LEMUR VOICE is that, actually, they were starting to become a truly competent and original prog-metal band. Here we had a group of musicians of the highest talent. An excellent drummer who was also the main lyrics writer for the outfit; a very skilled guitarist who was showing signs of extreme originality, with very unique riffs and ideas; a skilled bassist who played very interesting bass lines; a talented keyboardist who matched the abilities of the rest of the band. All of them were outstanding musicians, and that fact was starting to finally show in "Divided."

"Insights", the band's previous album, was interesting musically but failed to impress this listener with its lack of memorable songs and originality. LEMUR VOICE was very close to a DREAM THEATER clone in that record. But in "Divided", we can hear much more original music. While the influences are still there, there is a new, fresh sound that permeates the disc, with grunge and 70's-hard-rock overtones that add to the experience. The solos are better, the riffs and licks are way better. The songs have more interesting structures and everything seems to start to fall into place. The band manages to create songs that, though not immediately accessible, are much more memorable than some of the bland tracks in their debut. Just take a look at the excellent title-track or the very good "New Yanini" and you'll hear hints of greatness. The band even manages to pull out a decent (if a little awkward, especially in the jazz-styled chorus) Michael Jackson cover (of one of the pop legend's best songs, Beat It).

But lemurs can't sing. At least in nature they usually can't. And nowhere can one find better evidence to support that statement than in this album. If in "Insights" the vocals were slightly annoying, here in "Divided" they border on the atrocious. Of course, there is a reason: in the debut, the music was weak, therefore the vocals were just another weak element; but here, with much better sounds, the awful vocals fall so far behind the music in terms of quality that the contrast is too high and the image gets much more distorted. Van Der Loo's voice is too high, but that's not the biggest problem. It's too energy- less, too dead. It would seem that the singer was really bored recording this album because he really appears to be singing with absolute no conviction, no strength, no desire to reach anything but the moment when he could walk out of the studio.

And that's what kills this album in the end. The rating would have been higher if the vocals matched the quality of the music (I would go so far as to say that with an excellent singer this record could've gotten a 4.5 from me). But with what we have, "Divided" is just a tad above its predecessor, and it gets a 3.

This band doesn't exist anymore. And when one hears the vocalist singing, one stops wondering why...

ovidiu INSIGHTS was a true musical bomb in prog metal community launched by a fantastic band from The Netherlands in the end of the '90!!Man...this Dutchmen are simply breathtaking!Thay had a debut album at the prestigious MAGNA CARTA label,and it seems that Pete Morticelli and Mike Varney themselves -the bosses from the label were trully impressed when they discovered the guys!It's pure prog metal in DREAM THEATER style-very techical and furious-with massive guitar riffs and strong vocal parts!I repeat-technically they are at the same level like the American icons-and some of the tracks-especially the instrumental parts-can rivalize with the monumental METROPOLIS track from the mythical IMAGES AND WORDS album!AKASHA CHRONICLES-the second track from the album is a fabulous instrumental,where all the guys are trully unleashed and deliver one of the most amazing tracls -instrumental tracks in modern prog metal!It's fabulous!After this blastering album LEMUR VOICE lost their contract with MAGNA CARTA...and made DIVIDED the final album of the band-which is even more impressive that this brilliant INSIGHTS one! 5 STARS FOR A MONUMANT IN PROG METAL!