Ultima Ratio [Limited Edition]

Ultima Ratio [Limited Edition]

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
15 Titles and 72 Minutes with a Progressive Metal Sound which Did Not Forget to Be Aggressive, Superior Attacks the Terror that Religions Can Sometimes Create. The Musicians Did Not Leave Anything to Chance. True Compositions Quiet Complex, Careful Arrangements, Attractive Melodies, Killer Riffs and Luxurious Packaging.

Album Details

15 Titles and 72 Minutes with a Progressive Metal Sound which Did Not Forget to Be Aggressive, Superior Attacks the Terror that Religions Can Sometimes Create. The Musicians Did Not Leave Anything to Chance. True Compositions Quiet Complex, Careful Arrangements, Attractive Melodies, Killer Riffs and Luxurious Packaging.

Customer Reviews:

Top-quality Progressive Metal.......2004-08-02

At first I was in doubt about purchasing Ultima Ratio, 'cause there are lots of bands out there claiming "we're progressive metal!". But I read the other reviewers opinions and decided to give it a try. Here in Brazil we don't have such albums in CD stores (unfortunately, U.S. pop music was spread here like a virus), so I ordered it through the Internet. When the CD arrived, I popped it into the player and was blown away. They're damn good!! Reasons follow:

1 - As I mentioned above, there are a lot of bands out there claiming they're progressive metal bands, but most of them try to achieve this by cloning bands like Dream Theater, Queensryche, Symphony X and so on. But SUPERIOR shows lots of creativity within their music; they have influences of course, but they also have their own unique style. It is worth two stars and a half...

2 - The album is a superb conceptual masterpiece, featuring a story about religious fanatism and emotional conflicts. Also, the lyrics are simple to understand, but still meaningful. Michael Tangermann and Lisa Musinsky vocals (she sings in "Fallen") are to die for... Another two stars and a half.

The only beef about the album is the packaging: the booklet is a 4-fold poster, easy to tear if you fold and unfold it often; you've got to be careful when handling it. I think a stapled 1-fold booklet would be better. But I won't take any stars because of that.

All in all, it is a great purchase. Go get it!

Too bad Dream Theater didn't release this instead of 6DOIT.......2002-12-24

I really like this CD a lot !! I may not be able to articulate my thoughts too well as I am not a musician but let's just say that this hasn't left my car CD changer for months.

Although there may not be as much pure schredding on this compared to some other bands, this CD sounds killer. There is a lot of heaviness and emotion and the overall sound is well-produced and heavy !!

The songwriting is very good and Michael Tangerman's vocals are top notch. No high-pitched prog whiney vocals here. Deep full, emotional vocals that come close to a hypothetical mix of Dio and Russ Allen of Symphony X. I guess that one gripe is that they dont pump up the guitars a little in the mix when they have a solo.

It is too bad that this CD wasn't released by a more well-known band like Dream Theater. Then it would probably sell 500,000 copies or more. This CD needs to be heard !! Indeed, I know that there are a lot of DT fans who privately wish that DT would have released THIS CD instead of 6DOIT !!

This CD is easily in my all time 20 favorites, maybe it will end up in the top 10. Get it !!

Worth the wait........2002-08-08

Everyone is doing concept albums these days, or so it seems. I guess I remember Scenes from a Memory coming out and then in the following months reading a bunch of press releases saying X and Y and Z progressive artists were writing concept albums. Sadly, while a concept album has the potential to offer the best listening experiences, many writers don't have the talent or the vision.

What makes a concept album special? Well, Superior did a pretty good job identifying the right qualities and isolating them for _Ultima Ratio_, a concept album many years in the making. The story can be thought of as a global extension of the _Operation: Mindcrime_ theme. An extreme political/religious organization spreads through the world like wildfire, and at the nucleus of the plot is betrayal, propaganda, and love. Your main characters are Fisher, Kerioth, and a mysterious woman named Eden. Original? Not really. Good? Yep.

_Ultima Ratio_ is less experimental than the oft criticized _Younique_ and crushes fewer bones than their first release, _Behind_. It manages to settle into a comfortable medium between the two, staying aggressively heavy but not forsaking their progressive spirit. The focus is more on songwriting and production for this release, foci that paid off for the album's overall feel.

At 72 minutes, the album is a bit taxing on the first few listens. Heavy on...heaviness, low on melody with drama obscured by thick production, it doesn't seem to be an instant winner. It's easy to become absorbed with the arresting intro which introduces the listener to the story. Then it's hard not to rock out to the slaughtering riffs that open "Ultra". From there, things trailed off for me, but I'd recommend that the new listener sink half a dozen listens into it before you feel the hooks (except the thrashy "Reach for Reign", which nearly knocked me over).

Superior's overall style remains largely the same, pressing forward with heavy-duty syncopated, chugging guitar riffs and aggressive vocal melodies. Keyboards are less dominant in _Ultima Ratio_, accentuating where appropriate but never clouding the stormy guitar action like another German "prog metal" band that will go unnamed. The heavy, dense and dramatic arrangements work perfectly for the dark story, along with Michael Tangermann's deep, powerful timbre. As the story rises to its conclusion, "Broken World" comes in and impresses as one of the album's best songs. It builds an orchestra-like keyboard patch behind punishing guitars and a downtrodden vocal for powerful results. Unfortunately, the final song, "Judgment Day", doesn't have a corresponding dramatic sweep, and it ends the album a bit weakly. "Eyes of a Stranger" it isn't. The epilogue instrumental track, "Eternity", is sadly beautiful though and mitigates this failing. Another high point is "Fallen", the powerful ballad featuring a female vocalist (Lisa Musinsky) along with Tangermann -- another nod to Mindcrime? Maybe, but the song is excellent on its own terms. Tangermann strikes a perfect balance between emotional power and subtlety, and his co-star has a lovely voice, delicate and sorrowful.

Well, I wasn't going to bring in the "prog metal" words but since I already did I guess it's okay to do it some more. Since the genre often comes across as winded and stagnant (sad...), it's good to see bands that will actually continue to _progress_ -- explore new ideas and grow without turning to the conventionalized Images & Words and/or Queensryche influences. (Remember, although _Ultima Ratio_ has metamusic similarities to _Operation: Mindcrime_, the music is absolutely not similar.)

In short, this is an album well worth the long wait.

Music Info: