When I first heard the sample clips from "34613" it caught my attention but I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. It sounded like progressive power metal similar to Crimson Glory, Queensrÿche and Fates Warning but it didn’t quite grab me. Still because I like that kind of stuff I decided to give it a chance. After all clips from a song can be misleading when taken out of context. Sadly after listening to the album I can say this is some powerless power metal.
Now being that I really love power metal I'm a lot more lenient on it then other genres. Basically if it sounds like the band is passionate about what they are doing and the songs have lots of energy its going to get a decent review from me. The majority of "34613" sounds forced and generic. Everything on the album has been done by many other bands only significantly better. It seems to me the problem it the central force writing the music for Tomorrow's Outlook is the bands manager and the bass player with the rest of the band being filled in by guest musicians and vocalists. So part of the problem is probably due to the inexperience of the composers and the other part may be due to the fact that the gust musicians don’t feel connected to the project. Most of the vocalists sound board and uninterested in what they are doing, with the exception of Mike Gorham who really shines through on the albums one redeeming song "The Ethereal Dream". It’s also worth noting that Michael Kiske (You know, the guy that sang on those legendary Helloween albums.) also sings this song as "The Ethereal Dream (Reprise)" for the albums closing track. Kiske's although good, still sounds weak and lacks emotion in comparison to Gorham's.
All together unless you’re a close friend of someone in the band, you’re really not missing anything if you don't hear this album. My advice to Trond Nicolaisen and Andreas Stenseth would be if they plan on continuing Tomorrow's Outlook then try and work on some original ideas, find some more members who are interested and excited about the project and hire Mike Gorham as a full time vocalist. On the other hand my advice to Mike Gorham would be to find a better band; your talent is beyond Tomorrow's Outlook.
(I give "34613" a 2 out of 5)
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