The tracks on Flying Through Infinity had my brow furrowed with confusion. The lyrics are lofty and not at all accessible. The operatic style of Jonathan R Marshall is impressive, but his tenor vocals only succeed in further pushing this album into overdramatic musical pantomime. The entire album, from start to finish, takes the listener on a weird and trippy adventure that I don’t think they want to be on.

The mastermind behind the sound and vision of this band is George Bellas, who wore several hats while creating the album: he conceptualized, composed, orchestrated, produced, mixed and mastered, and provided his talents as a vocalist and musician, playing guitar, keyboards, bass, and percussion. Together, Bellas, Marshall, and percussionist Sasha Horn have created something that is nothing short of mystifying to the senses.

His concept for this album is “a journey of a soul travelling through the infinite universe and other dimensions within it…The soul’s journey includes visiting loved ones on Earth and reflecting on cherished memories all the while searching for its way to eternal peace and trying to find its ultimate purpose.” It’s an overly ambitious concept for overly orchestrated album.

The first track, “The Tenth Dimension”, goes on and on for over nine minutes, and not once does it let up on the theatrical vocals and heavy guitar, sounds that don’t mesh well together. As an indicator of the nature of the following tracks, I was not looking forward to hearing the rest of the album, which remained just as mismatched and over zealous.

Some of the redeeming tracks include “Who Am I” and “From This Day Forward”. However, while these songs are of a better quality and construction, the lyrics remain bizarre and oddly mystic throughout the entire album. To offer some good points, both Bellas and Marshall have very strong voices. The music itself was proficiently played, but within the context of the album, that wasn’t enough to veer away from the overall off-putting effect of this record.

Flying Through Infinity is very determined and very experimental, but too much so. This album would make much more sense as a soundtrack to an epic rock musical or opera. Perhaps Bellas is in the wrong business and should set his sights on adapting his music for the stage; he’s halfway there already, with the tenor easily taking the male lead, belting out the story-inspired tracks and acting out its progression. Then again, there is an audience for every genre and with Bellas already being established from his various other projects, I am sure his fans, wherever they are out there, and I mean *out there*, will enjoy this.



Track Listing:

The Tenth Dimension
Chaos Theory
Time Will Tell
I Know Your Home
Who Am I
Declaration
Lights Fall Down
From This Day Forward
End of Time
Mesmerized