Pre-order now 'Mosaic', the new album from Theocracy

I actually am not real big on any of the Theocracy epics. I like them all but none are my favorites from their respective albums. The Serpent's Kiss is the closest to being the favorite on its album. On my end I can safely say Red Sea is better than Easter. On Easter, I do like the song and the lyrical story but it is actually a lesser track for me. Red Sea is more cohesive, linear, engaging. Red Sea is like a long progression and doesn't come across as pieces and parts. I'd have loved a second kick in the pants toward the end as the beginning of the song is so high energy. Initially it felt like it ebbed away as the track went on. That said, on fourth and fifth listens it keeps getting better. It may end up vying for my favorite epic track (see my first sentence).

Just downloaded this on YouTube Music.

Frozen Fire wrote:I actually am not real big on any of the Theocracy epics. I like them all but none are my favorites from their respective albums. The Serpent's Kiss is the closest to being the favorite on its album. On my end I can safely say Red Sea is better than Easter. On Easter, I do like the song and the lyrical story but it is actually a lesser track for me. Red Sea is more cohesive, linear, engaging. Red Sea is like a long progression and doesn't come across as pieces and parts. I'd have loved a second kick in the pants toward the end as the beginning of the song is so high energy. Initially it felt like it ebbed away as the track went on. That said, on fourth and fifth listens it keeps getting better. It may end up vying for my favorite epic track (see my first sentence).

Their epics are not my favorites, either, with the exception of Mirror of Souls.

After listening again without distractions, I think Sinsidious is actually my favorite, followed by Red Sea. I like the solo in Red Sea, although I still think Serpent’s Kiss has by far the best instrumental part in a Theo song

At this point I think my ranking would be:
1. Mirror of Souls
2. Theocracy
3. As the World Bleeds
4. Mosaic
5. Ghost Ship

Only reason AtWB is ahead of Mosaic is because of the title track and I Am. 

Everybody ranking the self-titled as the worst album is objectively wrong

My copy hasn't arrived yet... hopefully tomorrow.  I've tried not to listen to any tracks on youtube apart from the singles.  However, I couldn't wait, and have listened to Red Sea.  So I've listened to 4 tracks and love them all.  Red Sea is long, but it's Theocracy, and it's awesome!

As for the order, (apart from Mosaic) I'd put it like...

1 - As The World Bleeds
2 - Mirror Of Souls
3 - Ghost Ship
4 - S/T

But they're all brilliant.  I kind of feel (after listening to the 4 tracks), that Mosaic will be in 3rd place, after MOS, but above Ghost Ship.

Great album! Will be getting a lot of plays. Tourniquet's A Dog's Breakfast slide and chug in Sinsidious makes me smile. It is at :29 and scattered throughout. Not sure if it was intentional or not but pretty cool.

KaramKaram wrote:

Pethead wrote:I’m not sure, honestly. Hopefully KaramKaram can direct us.


Long story short: it good.

Here's the review, it was published today:

https://lotsofmuzik.com/theocracy-mosaic-album-review-by-curtis-j-dupree/

Well done, Pethead!

Ordered mine from Amazon 13 August 
They haven't shipped yet

It's a great album! I can't say yet whether it's better or worse than any of the others. I think I've listened to it 3 or 4 times this weekend. 

Some thoughts so far:
- Flicker is one of my daughter's favourite songs. I think the ending of the song is pretty brilliant considering the lyrics and poetic structure.
- I like when they take a chugging power chord riff and turn it into a unique, harmonizing, interesting riff. Lots of that on this album
- I like heavy and fast. Yes, the drummer does some brilliant work on this album. It's one of the highlights for me. 
- I love the guitar solos here, but I did like Val better. I thought that Val was brilliant in the sense that he arranged and "squeezed in" guitar solos so that those who didn't care for them hardly noticed, but yet those who love them were in awe. The guitar solos on this album are more traditional in nature and how they fit into the song structure.
- As a rule of thumb I don't like long songs. Red Sea has some really interesting parts, I'll give more of a review once I've listened to it more.

I will say, although I think Red Sea is a great song, I might not spin it every time I play the album.

Pethead wrote:I will say, although I think Red Sea is a great song, I might not spin it every time I play the album.

Yeah, I agree with you on that. There's a handful of longer Dream Theater songs that I really enjoy, but I'll only start them if I'm prepared to make it all the way through. If not, I'd play a different album and come back to it.

I FINALLY ordered my copy.  life's been so hectic lately that I just never got around to it until now.  (Clearly someone needs to talk to my pastor to initiate some church discipline for my wayward prioritizing...)  I hope it comes in very quickly because I'm eager to hear it!

I agree about Insidious being the song that stands out most so far.
I'm also curious about the new guitar players background?

Sevenoneself wrote:- I love the guitar solos here, but I did like Val better. I thought that Val was brilliant in the sense that he arranged and "squeezed in" guitar solos so that those who didn't care for them hardly noticed, but yet those who love them were in awe. The guitar solos on this album are more traditional in nature and how they fit into the song structure.

A yes to this comment. Val was exceptional. Tracks were made and made better, even extraordinary by his playing. Not many mention it or seem to think as highly of As The World Bleeds as I do but that is my favorite Theocracy track because of Val's playing. I can listen to the instrumental section of that song a million times and never grow tired of it.

That said, listening to Mosaic more I am seeing and hearing some true brilliance in some Taylor solos. Some of the playing here is on another level. His solos on Anonymous, Sinsidious, Liar Fool, or Messiah are on the EVH, Vito Bratta, Nuno level. It's pretty crazy. The solos are more short bursts in general than adventures like Val but boy are they good! I'm coming around as I'm growing more comfortable with the songs.

Not sure where Taylor or Ernie's faith is. In Taylor's thanks it says he's been a big fan and has been for "over a dozen" years. Maybe he reached out to Matt when Val was fired? Theocracy may have more of a bend like Wytch Hazel overall with Matt's great dedication determining 100% the Christian direction and other band members having varying beliefs, some following Christ some not.

Taylor Washington is also in a band called Paladin that has some vaguely Christian lyrics (check out the song Genesis for example). Speaking of Val, does anybody know what was going on with him that led to him being fired?

Listening to Paladin and I'm thinking he held back with Theocracy, crazy stuff. He also tours with Arsis so he can shred with anyone.

seth wrote:Taylor Washington is also in a band called Paladin that has some vaguely Christian lyrics (check out the song Genesis for example). Speaking of Val, does anybody know what was going on with him that led to him being fired?

I remembered looking into Paladin, forgot about those lyrics.

The story was Val was scamming Theocracy fans/guitar student privately for money with dramatic stories. Just a weird circumstance. I think these stories were ultimately left more as heresay than officially documented. As such I'm not sure we'd ever get a complete story. Either way, it stunk for everyone involved.

seth wrote:Taylor Washington is also in a band called Paladin that has some vaguely Christian lyrics (check out the song Genesis for example). Speaking of Val, does anybody know what was going on with him that led to him being fired?

I definitely have nothing against Taylor's solos. They are absolutely incredible. 

If you check out Theocracy's website, they have a press statement about why they had to let Val go. Someone who's been here on the CMR longer than me would know if there's a thread about it.

bodachi wrote:Ordered mine from Amazon 13 August 
They haven't shipped yet

Stinking Amazon 
I used free shipping so they made me wait a few days for it to ship and arrive in one

One of the things I notice about Theocracy (for me) is that the songs grow on me over time.  I never liked Mirror Of Souls (the song) or Laying The Demon to Rest.  But after a few months I loved them both.  I think it's because you have to dedicate a lot of time to listening to the songs and really getting in to them to appreciate what they're like.
I'm finding that with the Mozaic album.  I've listened to all the songs once or twice, and think they're great, but I know I'll love them more if I have repeated listens.  I actually really love the ballad (and that's because it's the most accessible because it's a short song).

Fundy wrote:One of the things I notice about Theocracy (for me) is that the songs grow on me over time.  I never liked Mirror Of Souls (the song) or Laying The Demon to Rest.  But after a few months I loved them both.  I think it's because you have to dedicate a lot of time to listening to the songs and really getting in to them to appreciate what they're like.
I'm finding that with the Mozaic album.  I've listened to all the songs once or twice, and think they're great, but I know I'll love them more if I have repeated listens.  I actually really love the ballad (and that's because it's the most accessible because it's a short song).

I have listened the album now once. Like with every other albums, I need to give this more spins to get an idea if I really like it or not. 

Not a lot of hooks or catchy melodies really at first listening except Return to Dust. It all sounds good and it’s Theocracy for sure, but time will tell if this will be great. Mirror of Souls is still their strongest imo.

According to the tracking number, Mosaic is due in to me today.    I'm listening to the s/t in preparation haha.

On that note, I'm kinda surprised to see The Serpent's Kiss mentioned most in context of the s/t album's epics.  It's not bad, but I like The Healing Hand and Twist Of Fate so much more.

Serpent’s Kiss > Twist of Fate > Healing Hand, although all are really good. The ending of Serpent’s Kiss is one of Theocracy’s most epic moments. Not to even mention the instrumental solo

None of the epics on the s/t really grab me. My attention wanders.

The best song on the s/t is the title track.