Five years back drummer Dennis Leeflang (ex Within Temptation) got together with ex Lemur Voice guitarist Marcel Coenen and formed the progressive metal band Sun Caged. After the release of three demos the band signed to the Finnish label Lion Records. Their self titled debut album will hit the stores at the end of October.

Sun Caged makes music in the vain of Dream Theater. There’s a lot of variation between and within the songs. Slower orchestral intros and intermezzos are interchanged with quite powerful metal. One of the exceptional characteristics is the keyboard playing by Joost van den Broek. His fast and sometimes crazy style of playing is quite familiar to his live performance with Arjen Lucassens project Star One. During opening track “Sedation” Van den Broek challenges guitarist Marcel Coenen with some furious solos.

(Let’s call it a tie).

Although Andre Vuurbooms vocals are very powerful (he reminds me of James LaBrie), his greatest effort lies in the slower parts on the CD. With the track “Home” (one of the best tracks) for example he proves to be able to sing the most beautiful vocal melodies. These kinds of melodies are sometimes lacking in the faster tracks, they just don’t always seem to fit the music. The album was mixed by no one other than Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon and Star One) and produced by Joost van de Broek. Sound quality guaranteed.

Sun Caged has delivered a fine and rich debut album. The fact that the music sounds like Dream Theater (Scenes From A Memory) is as much a weakness as a strong point. Sun Caged has got the basics right and will doubtlessly find its own way in the progressive metal scene.