Is The Rainmaker, the sixth studio album from The Flower Kings, the one where they went “metal”? Is it the one where the shine is off the penny and, as many have written, the band starts to falter? I think it’s “no” for the first one – distortion doth not make one metal; sadly, it might be a “yes” for the latter. That doesn’t mean there isn’t good stuff to be had throughout the album, another single disc of largely compact tunes and interludes with three larger epics to frame out the album. It remains to be seen if I can remain compact in this review, so let’s cut to the jump and find out, together.

As we hit the 2000s we see the first major change to The Flower Kings, as Michael Stolt leaves, arriving in his place a bass phenomenon familiar to Roine: his partner from his days in The Tangent, Jonas Reingold. The sonic change is immediate on Space Revolver, as his acrobatic fretwork abounds over the entire record, one much more concise in the writing department, as after two double albums we return to a single (albeit still 76 minutes) album. There’s a lot of love for this record; multiple listens still has me trying to figure out where it sits in my ranking. In keeping with the theme of listening again as I write, let’s get into the weeds and see what we find.

You’re Roine Stolt, and you’ve just released your most ambitious project to date: a double album with a 25-minute closing title track. The album gets you more into the spotlight, with many considering it the pinnacle of the neo-prog movement that’s happening in the 90s. Where do you go from there? You double down on everything, including the epic, a sprawling prog odyssey an hour in length and broken into 18 sections. The Flower Kings have done a lot of things, but for my money nothing as epic – or accomplished – as Flower Power, the band’s fourth studio album and clocking in at over 140 minutes their second longest album (Unfold the Future beats it by a mere 18 seconds). There’s a lot to digest so let’s just get to it.