A duo from England, Another Realm is a symphonic heavy metal act made up of Steve Morrison on guitars and Phil Stuckey on vocals. That's it - no drummer, no bassist, and no other credited artists or contributors. You could call this entity a super-duo, as Steve is a member of the NWOBHM group Tysondog, and Phil hails from the renowned prog act Stuckfish. After I learned this, I expect to hear a mixture of heavy metal and progressive rock in "Origin" - not a bad combination in any sense (if executed well, of course.) Can it be executed well with only a guitarist and a vocalist in a genre where multiple instruments are key?

The first single "Let There Be Light" opens the full LP. I tend to listen to any released songs leading up to a release before I listen to the full project anyways. What we have here is a piped-in symphony and overall sound and feel that slightly reminds me of my 70's prog rock phase. Questionable lyrics of the universe, stardust, and whatever other spatial buzzwords appear like they apparently should, and the whammy bar works overtime with small solos. The mixing is lackluster, with some dull drums and a really synthetic "orchestra." The second single, "If Words Collide," downsizes the supposed symphony to more of a chamber orchestra for this dreadful rock ballad. The vocals don't make it dreadful, but they don't help it NOT be dreadful by any means. It's just so sappy, and goes on for over six minutes. I don't remember symphonic prog being this unexciting... is it even progressive?

Seven tracks left to get through, and I say this out of dissatisfaction as if I'm being brutally honest, the singles were enough from Another Realm. "New World Odyssey" thankfully picks up the pace again, but alas, the song progresses into another ballad, this time with even simpler drum patterns! I'll give Phil credit for some notes hit here, but that's it. "Whore Of Babylon" tries to act epic with bombastic drums played by whoever the hell, and when paired with mindset of the need to sound like Nightwish, comes off pretty amateurish. The riffs are kind of lazy, too. "Sands Of Time" essentially ctrl-c and ctrl-v's the last song, and so does "Empire Of Darkness."

The second "half" of the album doesn't deviate from the themes it built upon before - poorly mixed symphonic metal that can apparently be called prog because of the relation to Stuckfish. I started to browse social media during the last three tracks "Crusader," "Awaken," and "After The Fire," because there's not much more to say. "Awaken" sloppily starts with a sample of a famous classical piece that for the life of me I can't remember, so I guess that's something interetsting. I don't think I get some sick satisfaction by writing negative reviews, but it has to happen at some point - they can't all be 10's.

It's safe to assume I am not a fan of Another Realm. This duo could benefit from adding some more actual human beings to help play instruments and write some less cringe lyrics. "Origin" is mixed questionably, played basically, written lazily, and it stayed confined in whatever genre it is. I like symphonic metal. I like proggy stuff. I did not like this at all. (Also, what the hell is that album cover?)