If there was ever something that a man should ever experience in life before he goes to the grave, that thing would be sex. If, however, I could pick another thing, it would most likely be seeing The Trans-Siberian Orchestra live in concert. Having seen them twice now (in 2006 and 2008), I can honestly say I had never seen a more satisfying concert experience in my life, and certainly nothing as breathtaking for the eyes and ears to enjoy. The only thing you could say sucked about a TSO show is their constant running gag of announcing their long-awaited 5th studio album would be released this year next year eventually. But finally, Night Castle has arrived for the world to hear.
Night Castle is TSO’s second departure from the Christmas mood (The first being Beethoven’s Last Night), and that’s a prevalent fact throughout the double album. Everything about this album is a tad darker than the usual TSO fare. The story takes place in wartime, the some of the arrangements are every metal driven, and the vocalists are distained, and full of sorrow at times, compared to the almost always cheerful sounds of Christmas Joy heard throughout the Christmas Trilogy. It’s not to say it’s not a happy album; many of the songs are cheerful, inspired ballads. But this is going to a lot more somber than anything heard from TSO before.
The previous four albums have each had a long, emotional, and enjoyable story to be told in the book that comes along with the CDs. It is no different this time around. Night Castle focuses around an army Lieutenant, who is soon to be deployed to Cambodia in the midst of the Vietnam War. The night before, he meets the love of his life, gets married to her, and has a night to truly remember, and then gets shipped off the next day. At a base along the path to Cambodia, some exploration leads the Lieutenant to the titular Night Castle, where he meets a jovial old man and learns much about life, love, and his place in the universe. He then arrives in Cambodia, and is promptly captured by enemy forces. That’s about as far as I can go without spoiling the beauty of what is to follow, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable, and heart-wrenching read, and you really don’t feel the whole impact of the album without reading the supplemental story.
But even without the epic scope of the story, this music is epic just by itself. Open up with a bombastic fury of vocals, strings and guitars in “Night Enchanted”, then follow it up the soothing “Childhood Dreams”, and the hard rocking “Sparks” to start off the storyline. Tributes to classical music are all over the place in TSO’s signature rock style. Tributes to Bach and Mozart are far overdue, and help illustrate their segments of the story well. “The Mountain”, a fusion of “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and Gustov Hoist’s “Mars” (The fourth movement of “The Planets”, which everyone should listen to once in their life) made my ears orgasm. However it’s the instrumentals found at the end of the album, unrelated to the story, that steal the show. “Carmina Burana” has been performed at TSO’s live concerts for a few years now, and having it jam out of your iPod is nothing less than insane musical bliss. There’s even a small bit of Christmas flair thrown in with “Nutrocker”, a killer song with an insane bass line. There are even some nods to the band that came before TSO was formed, Savatage, for the big Metal fans out there.
It’s the vocal pieces though that really make this album. Seven lead vocalists contribute to the songs found in the narrative, and there’s not a weak one in the bunch. Every song is delivered with a strong emotional punch, and a clear and decisive tone. If I had to pick a standout, Rob Evan, who sings “There Was a Life” and “Epiphany” simply spews awesomeness from his mouth. Seriously, the ten minute “Epiphany” is an emotional roller coaster that thrills from beginning to end. If there’s one song on this album to listen to, it’s easily this one. That’s not to take away from the other singers, though. Jeff Scott Soto’s Lieutant is a diverse and fun character to follow, and all in all, this is just a powerful album all together.
Night Castle was delayed for years and years and years because Paul O’Neill and the other heads of TSO are supreme perfectionists and wanted to make sure Night Castle was going to be absolutely perfect upon its release. And, while part of me want to say they did just that, I found myself liking the rest of their work a lot more than what is found here. That’s the only weakness I have with this album. It’s perfect, but then again, so is everything else in TSO’s book. I can’t recommend this album enough to rock, metal and music fans in general; it’s music at its best. The next step is for someone to transcribe this into a musical or rock opera, because let’s face it, this work should be brought to Broadway, so that someone with a BFA in Musical Theater like I will soon have will finally have all their life dreams fulfilled.
