THE BEAST

Docker's Guild - The Mystic Technocracy - Season 2: The Age of Entropy - Reviewed By italiadimetallo ! Check it out here at this link: https://www.italiadimetallo.it/recensioni/35647/dockers-guild/the-mystic-technocracy-season-2-the-age-of-entropy

Douglas Docker , eclectic poly instrumentalist, composer and producer presents the new "chapter" of the Metal Space Opera of his project Docker's Guild .

Chronologically this is the third full length after the 2012 debut “ The Mystic Technocracy - Season 1: The Age of Ignorance ” and the following “ The Heisenberg Diaries – Book A: Sounds of Future Past ” of 2016; third of a sci-fi epic that will be divided into 9 albums (5 seasons and 4 books).

“The Mystic Technocracy - Season 2: The Age of Entropy” in its narration introduces the “Black Swan Universe”  which will connect Docker's Guild to other Metal works such as Chronomaster Project and Vivaldi Metal Project ; videos and illustrated books will follow to complete the narrative experience at a decidedly complete level.

Also in this album, now a custom for such complex projects, we find 17 special guests including Amanda Somerville , Anneke Van Giersbergen, Joel Hoekstra, Sascha Paeth, Nita Strauss and Anna Portalupi . The assonances with Arjen Anthony Lucassen of Ayreon and even more of Star One are undeniable but the particular connotations of the songs contained in this " The Mystic Technocracy - Season 2: The Age of Entropy " color it with different shades, which precisely follow an autochthonous narration .

The positive aspects of this mammoth work are based precisely on the lever of "personality" and on what does not have an aftertaste of "already heard". Unfortunately, after several listens, the peculiarities are not too many also due to the need to follow a narrative line that leaves little room for purely musical digressions.

I would positively mention the emotional crescendo that passes from the piano of " Nocturne / Rings " to the charge of " Lucy " which carries on an engaging rhythmic trend that preserves those melancholy notes that make it one of the most captivating and precious songs. 

The album continues in the narration and finds more heavy-progressive moments strong with excellent arrangements, which demonstrate how it is possible to make beautiful songs even by following such an articulated plot. There are more introspective songs supported by captivating melodies set in dreamlike visions of a futuristic pseudo folk. There are echoes of Neal Morse and Pink Floyd on “ The Arrow ” but everything is dosed in the service of narrative progression. “ Cassilda's Song/Urbs Aeterna ” introduced by the kinematics of “ The Purple King ” returns to heavier coordinates and manages to calibrate the multiple facets of the sound of the Docker's Guild project. I would say that musically the excursus on this coupling can very well represent the musicality of “ The Mystic Technocracy - Season 2: The Age of Entropy ”. In conclusion there is also room for a timeless tribute to Oliver Onions : “ SOS Spazio 1999 ” and, in the proposed version, it is clear how absolutely spot on it is in this context!

Complex and very accurate arrangements in a very high level sound production, a discriminating condition which is often lacking for similar products. An album with great attention to detail and decidedly deep and long-lived; I recommend listening to it and entering the sci-fi fantasy universe of Douglas Docker and his guild! - italiadimetallo  

Release Date: November 15, 2022

FFO: Asia, Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Threshold, Dream Theater, Journey

Location: Italy 

Docker's Guild is a massive progressive metal space opera which will unfold through 5 “seasons” and 4 “books” for a total of 9 albums. It is masterminded by producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Douglas R. Docker.

The overall story arc of Docker’s Guild’s space opera is rather complex and has been worked out in great detail. Album after album, you will visit the dark world of The Mystic Technocracy, where a silicon-based techno-organic alien race attempts to wipe out all life on Earth through organized religion, while a tormented scientist makes it his mission in life to save humanity. His quest will take him across the universe and on a personal journey from which there is no return.

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CREDITS

Produced by Douglas R. Docker
Mixed by Neil Kernon, Alberto Macerata and Alessandro Del Vecchio 
Superb visionary artwork by C.A. Beckston / Blekkmark Design Studio

VOCALS: Anneke van Giersbergen, Amanda Somerville, Elizabeth Andrews, Valentina Procopio, Anna Petracca, Serena Moine

KEYBOARDS, BASS, VOCALS: Douglas R. Docker

GUITARS: Joel Hoekstra, Sascha Paeth, Nita Strauss, Mio Jäger, Toni Urzì, Luigi Iamundo

BASS: Anna Portalupi, Luca Pisu, Roby Salvai, Giorgio Novarino

DRUMS: Helly

Follow the band at these links:

https://www.dockersguild.com/
https://www.facebook.com/dockersguild
https://www.instagram.com/dockersguild/
https://www.youtube.com/@dockersguild
https://twitter.com/dockersguild
https://open.spotify.com/album/4HgGb91LOo3Y263fjNVs28