Flies in a Jar is the second album of the Italian Band Soul Taker. The band combines progressive metal with classical music. With a lot of expectations I put the cd in my player; after almost 52 minutes I was some disappointed. The production has put the emphasis on the piano playing; the piano plays also some kind of riffs. The sound of the piano and violin however is louder than the guitar riffs; they attrack attention too much; halfway the album this gets some irritating.

Now back to the songs; they really aren’t bad at all; the combination between progressive metal and classical music isn’t something new. The classical influences aren’t performed just by the bombastic orchestral moments; but the piano and violins take care of real classical music parts. This is filled up by heavy guitar riffs while the vocals sometimes strengthen the metal parts then again the vocals are classical oriented.

The metal parts consist out of the guitar solos; they are superb. ‘Starring Eyes’ is a song that has al these elements. ‘Thin Wales’ is more classical oriented; the intro just only piano, dramatic vocals and violin; the song changes into a progressive metal ballad. ‘Floating’ and the up-tempo ‘Icon’ are songs that are performed strongly; unfortunately also now the piano playing is too loud; the progressive riffs get lost in the piano playing. The classical ‘Another World’ is performed great.

Flies in a Jar could have been a great album if the production would have been more metal oriented; the sound would have got a real metal; this would show full to advantage to the classical parts. The songs have a great structure; a heavier production would make the songs sound a lot better. The rate would have been higher.