''Arms of Morpheus'' is the third studio album by the Dutch progressive metal band

Kingfisher Sky Kingfisher Sky is a Dutch progressive metal band from Netherlands, created and led by drummer Ivar de Graaf (formerly of Within Temptation). History The history of Kingfisher Sky started in 2001, after drummer Ivar de Graaf left Within Temp ...

. The album was originally released on the 24th of October, 2014 and peaked at #31 on the Netherlands album charts the week after its release. The funding for the album was obtained via an online

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

campaign, which successfully raised enough money to get the album released. The album; befitting its name referencing Greek god of sleep and dreams Morpheus; draws on themes of sleeping, dreams, coma, insomnia and myths amongst others.

Reception

''Arms of Morpheus'' received somewhat positive reviews from critics on release. Critics praised the album's broad range of musical influences and general musicianship of the band and their guests. While another critic praised the folk oriented elements of the album; they expressed disappointment at the perceived lack of dynamics in the vocals and expressed a dislike of the heavier metal elements of the album, describing them as "just not clicking with this record".

Track listing

Personnel

;Kingfisher Sky *

Ivar de Graaf Ivar de Graaf (born 20 August 1973) is the founder and drummer of the Dutch progressive metal band Kingfisher Sky, but best known as the former drummer of the popular Dutch metal band Within Temptation. Early career Ivar de Graaf was born in ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

(additional), bouzouki,

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

* Judith Rijnveld -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

, lyrics * Edo van der Kolk -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

, acoustic guitar * Chris Henny -

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

* Nick Verschoor -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Maaike Peterse -

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

* David Gutierrez Rojas -

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

;Guest Musicians * Kristoffer Gildenlöw - bass guitar * Ludo de Goeje -

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

* Fieke Van Den Hurk -

hurdy gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

* Bouke Visser - tin whistle * Valerio Recenti -

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

;Others *

Jochem Jacobs Jochem Jacobs (born 26 March 1977) is a Dutch guitarist, producer and recording engineer, noted for his work as founder, guitarist and producer for Textures. He works at Split Second Sound, a studio in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He has been involv ...

- mixing, mastering * Joke Rijnveld-Stortenbeek - album artwork, layout * Richard Hilgeman - photography

References

External links

Kingfisher Sky Official Website
{{authority control 2014 albums Rock albums by Dutch artists