Max Enix well…takes it to the Max with his full-length debut and double album Far From Home. Ambitious, self-indulgent, and a bit pretentious, Max leaves it all on the floor with 14 tracks and most of them are over 10 minutes. It’s much to take in and not an easy listening experience, but Max brings some friends with him to guest on this journey such as Fabio Lione, Tom Englund, Dan Swanö, Michael Romeo and more.

Far From Home is a cinematic, dramatic, escalating story with a prog power metal backdrop accompanied by symphonic elements. And Max crams in as much as he can within each song with wordy lyrics, soft passages with brief escalation, theatre-like drama, and tension designed to emote the seriousness of the story. It’s funny too because once you think these songs can’t much longer, Max uppercuts with the 26 minute title track and closer.

Sometimes less is more, but in Max’s case, too much is not enough, and it would have served him well to take a step back and tighten the music up. It’s hard to hold interest and attention for this long unless the writing is at a high level and while Max is certainly creative, he hammers so many lyrics to deliver the emotions of the story and characters. The problem with every song being so long is that it loses its effectiveness after a while – more variation with the lengths and emotional musical beats would make Far From Home a much more effective listen.

There are repeated vocal notes and melodies and would have liked more instances where the music lets loose with fast guitars, but it keeps this pattern of quieter, symphonic moments that erupt into heavier parts. A song that was just a ripper from start to finish would have been welcome. Some rapping even appears in the beginning and closing tracks and while that might draw the ire of some listeners it works surprisingly well in this context. Max also sings with an accent and has a suitable voice and the other main singer is Elise Wachbar whose voice is pleasant and deserves credit for being able to effectively sing all these lines.

Far From Home is not for everyone and needs trimming, but Max’s commitment and passion for his project and album is commendable and exciting. If you want a concept album to get lost in, then give this one a try.