J-Man Lydian Sea is a melodic progressive metal band from Chicago, Illinois that has unfortunately slipped under the radar by most fans of the genre. A bit of a shame actually, since their sound on this self-titled debut album should be right up the alley of prog metal purists. Lydian Sea displays a strong influence from the likes of Fates Warning and Queensrÿche on this debut, and while this is certainly not a unique release by any stretch of the imagination, it's a competent enough debut from these American lads. While I am not yet familiar with the Lydian Sea's later releases to see if they've gained a more original approach over time, this is a good album with an abundance of catchy hooks, intricate musicianship, and memorable choruses.

The music on Lydian Sea is best described as a cross between Fates Warning, Queensrÿche, and Dream Theater, but I'd say the album most heavily relies on the intricate melodic heavy metal formula of Fates Warning's Parallels. Most of the songs here are rather straightforward and chorus-based, yet the intricate musicianship keeps it from ever sounding quite like a standard melodic metal album. While there are plenty of catchy choruses and impressive instrumental showcases on Lydian Sea, my biggest gripe is that it hardly brings anything to the table that hasn't been done dozens of times before. This is a very 'safe' release that does little to establish Lydian Sea from your average twenty-first century progressive metal act with little more to offer than what Fates Warning did back in 1991. The production isn't too great either, and the sound is a bit too muddy for my tastes. While certainly not horrible, the production does come across as a bit amateurish to these ears. Thankfully, the songwriting is generally pretty solid, and the nine-minute "Infinite Journey" is actually an excellent composition to these ears.

This can best be described as a promising debut, but not a whole lot more than that. Lydian Sea established themselves as competent musicians and capable songwriters without much to offer in the creativity department - listening to future albums will determine whether or not the band gained their own identity later on in their career. As far as this album is concerned, it's a decent but entirely non-essential debut that's only recommended to fans of the band and forgotten melodic progressive metal releases. This is average in nearly every sense of the word, so 2.5 - 3 stars would be a pretty appropriate score. While my reaction has been rather lukewarm, I am curious to hear what Lydian Sea has to offer on future efforts.