Label: Napalm Records

Review by Erwin Van Dijk

 When the band Stream of Passion released “Embrace the Storm” most people thought that this was another Arjen Lucassen project. Ayreon, Star One, Ambeon, the man is an endless source of good music. As expected Mr Lucassen left Stream of Passion for the next Ayreon project which resulted in the album 01011001.

And Stream of Passion? It took a long time before a new line up was established. The result is “The Flame Within”.

“The Flame Within” has not turned out to be a carbon copy of “Embrace the Storm” and that is a good thing. Although it is supposed to be Gothic oriented you will not find any of the typical elements like big choirs, singers on helium and grunts. The new Stream of Passion sounds like a real band and they do not have to resort on those special effects to create a good album. But, the debut did not use those elements either.

The mayor difference between “Embrace the Storm” and “The flame Within” is the fact that the The Flame Within songs are more compact and more rock than the ones on Embrace The Storm.

Four songs on the album are really outstanding:

"Now or Never" – The album really starts with this up tempo track. A great live song

"Games We Play" – Finally: headbang time \m/ I’ve never seen a moshpit at a Stream of Passion gig but this song might cause one.

"When You Hurt Me The Most" - the best song. Period. All the elements of the new Stream of Passion are here.

"Street Spirit" – This is a Radiohead cover. The Stream of Passion version has an eerie The Gathering sound. Think of the Nighttime Birds album from 1997. Whatever you might think of Radiohead this is a good song. I’ve never heard the original but it makes me wonder how the Radiohead version sounds.

If you are a Stream of Passion fan then you can buy this without hesitation.

Rating : 8/10

Tracklist :

1. The Art Of Loss
   
2. In The End
3. Now Or Never
4. When You Hurt Me The Most
5. Run Away
6. Games We Play
7. This Endless Night
8. My Leader
9. Burn My Pain
10. Let Me In
11. Street Spirit (Radiohead Cover)
12. A Part Of You
13. All I know
14. Far And Apart (Bonus Track)

Line Up :

• Marcela Bovio - Lead vocals, Electric Violin
• Johan van Stratum - Bass guitar
• Eric Hazebroek - Guitars
• Stephan Schultz - Guitars
• Jeffrey Revet - Keyboards & Synths
• Martijn Peters - Drums

Links :

Stream Of Passion Official MySpace

Stream Of Passion Official Site