Sanity is a progressive rock/metal act from The Netherlands. They play a form of progressive music that is at times metal and at others rock, combining the symphonic touches many of its progressive brethren incorporate into their sound. Live At 22 is a DVD/CD release, both featuring a live show recorded on November 20th, 2004 in The Netherlands. A biography and photo gallery is also included. The whole package is very professional for a band with no label backing. I’ve seen worse from major label bands. It’s also notable that Sanity has yet to release a full-length album, so this live release lends much credibility to their live performance.

There is no question that this band is talented. I can’t find a single flaw in their performance! Vocalist Kees van Keulen has a very solid voice similar to Geoff Tate of Queenryche, or Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, and he showcases his talent with ease. The band behind the vocals is worthy of equal comparison.

Musically the band go from your standard rock/metal to a more symphonic metal style during the show, incorporating dynamic breaks, excellent leads, and interludes throughout. At times the CD has its heavy moments, at others it is mellow, but mostly the band play a mid-paced style of progressive rock. The songs average 5 minutes a piece with four clocking in at 6 minutes and above, but it doesn’t become a chore listening to any of them.

So where does this thing go astray? Well, for me the songs are just a little weak. I like a hook; I like a song to suck me in. I want to be doing something else and have a song distract me, to pull my attention away from what I’m doing and make me focus all my attention on that song. Unfortunately these songs just fall a little short in that department. I can honestly say that a better guitar tone would have immeasurably improved this release. The guitar tone is very muddled and soft. It’s simply not heavy enough. The riffs are heavy, the vibe is intended to be heavy (I presume), but the sound is not. A better, thicker guitar tone brought up in the mix would have made this a killer release. The songs would still be a bit flat, a little weak on the “Hey, listen to me!” factor, but it would have been more easily overlooked.

All in all this is a good release. It’s not really the style of music I run to when I go to a music store, so other people may find this to be an excellent piece of work. I still do like it, but its shortcomings, for me, are just too noticeable to be overlooked, though I can definitely appreciate what this band has intended to do here and they do not fail at this. Check this out if you like this sort of thing, you may not be blown away, but you won’t be disappointed.

written by Ken Wood

Playing time: 58.33