review by: Roberto Martinelli

After a few years of research, Pagan’s Mind is officially this journalist’s favorite metal band. The Norwegian prog metal project’s fourth album, God’s Equation, sees the band enjoying more promotion than ever. The unfortunate thing is that the timing could be better, for God’s Equation isn’t their best album.

That said, less than best for a wonderful band can still be pretty great, and God’s Equation certainly is. The album continues in Pagan’s Mind’s signature, spacey, ethereal meets rock and metal sound, which complements their penchants for writing about extraterrestrial subjects.

Thing is, though, it’s probably a red flag when the track dead in the middle of a studio record is a cover song... like the core material isn’t so strong or enthused this time, so here’s a cover to divert some attention. In this case, it’s David Bowie’s "Hallo Spaceboy." The song certainly sticks out as not meshing entirely in style with Pagan’s Mind’s own tracks, but it is a fun song, and, like with any Pagan’s Mind track, it becomes a welcome, integral part of the record.

God’s Equation features some superb Pagan’s Mind songs: the title track and "United Alliance" stand out the most. But like all of this group’s work, the more you let the album mature with you, the more you grow fond of it, and parts on songs such as "Evolution Exceed" become genius.

But it just feels like there’s something missing compared to the first three records. It could be that this one is at least 10 minutes shorter, but that’s not necessarily it. The final song, "Osiris’ Triumphant Return," seems all wound up to deliver a proper album finale, but it’s merely passable. Previous Pagan’s Mind albums, particularly Celestial Entrance and Enigmatic: Calling, finished strong from around the 2/3 mark. God’s Equation does not.

This is particularly mysterious if one buys the limited edition 2CD God’s Equation set. The second disk features a new studio track, the nigh-eight-minute "Shine Eternally," which not only would have fit in beautifully on the main album in style and sonic quality, but also would have been one of the more pleasing songs. Also present on the bonus disk is a wonderful live cut, and four demo versions of songs from the second album. These are a minor thrill for major fans of the group, as one can hear multiple sections in which Pagan’s Mind tried out different ideas for vocal lines and transitions (thankfully, the album versions are all better).

Another point of interest is the sound production. Album #3, Enigmatic: Calling, was the group’s best, having been once again credited to Fredrik Nordstrom. God’s Equation sees Pagan’s Mind’s sound production now entirely in the hands of Pagan’s Mind. It’s on par with Enigmatic: Calling, but perhaps slightly less bright and crisp, and more muddy — not quite the work the previous album was. Then again, that’s the unilateral case. Looking again, God’s Equation, as truly highly recommendable as it is, is Pagan’s Mind’s least good album — even the debut, Infinity Divine, with a more relatively simplistic, generic, power metal approach and more of a canned sound, feels more like an album that tells an interesting tale from beginning to end.

Regardless of these shortcomings, and thanks to the extremely strong talent this group has, God’s Equation is still one of my favorite albums of 2007... just not of all time, like the previous couple are. (8.5/10)