Project Creation’s Floating World is, to me, the best work to date by Hugo Flores, and it comes out only a few months after his other great achievement: Sonic Pulsar’s Out of Place. ProgRock Records has done very well in taking and supporting this artist who, I believe, will continue to deliver the right goods in the future. And his obvious talent suggests that he will continue maturing and bettering his vision upon contemporary Hard Symphonic Prog in next works.

The main two characteristics that Hugo has been showing since his first solo works and then with Sonic Pulsar are, again, in full display in this album: Muscled Rock with loads of Hard Progressive riffs and structures and beautiful melodic calm interludes played with passion and a rare sense of harmony. But the way those two aspects interact with each other, in this album, have been achieved with a maturity and precision that had not yet been fully fulfilled by Hugo in his prior releases.
There is an obvious care for the creation of intricate yet perfectly audible pieces of music, where every detail works in favor of the overall result. This is a worked out and crafted album but in which that intricacy is meaningful, in a way that is normally achieved only by the most experienced creators of multi-guest concept albums, namely Anthony Lucassen’s Ayreon. There are, in fact, and musically speaking, many other common aspects in this album with those of the Dutch master.
Other bands that may work as references to the style and scope of this album are: Sylvan (especially for the most hard rockin’ and "politically correct" heavy melodic parts) and Kens Novel for the delicate communion of heavier and thoughtful calmer parts.

The concept of the album mixes sci-fi with mysticism and mythology. The basic idea refers to aliens in search for a new place to live, but it presents the pretty earthly Egyptian Pyramids as a key part of the storyboard and a relational symbol between the extra-terrestrial entities and the humankind. And though this is not new as a concept (fans of Stargate will agree), it is done in a different and thoughtful way.

To talk about this album without auditing the contribution of each artist involved would be, in my opinion, a severe crime, so next I’ll be trying to resume my thoughts about the conjurer of the project, and his guest “associates”:
Hugo Flores is equal to himself, providing the architectural design of the album with a whole palette of instruments. While a guitar player, Hugo sets his major course to the heart of the “art” of distortion with melody and focus. He easily ignite the heavier parts of the album with the same ease he suddenly turn his scope into more introspective and melodic passages. He also contributes with all synths and keyboards, filling eventual gaps and adding extra colors to some sequences. This playing can be close to some Swedish prog metal bands at times (especially in their neo-classic approach), but it can also curve into more Vangelis alike sonorities (like in Intervening). His bass playing is more than competent; it can be spectacular like in the opening title track. His singing tends to interact with that of Linx, proposing a slightly lower tone than that of the Forgotten Suns vocalist. In this album Linx keep things pretty much in a high pitched and aggressive tone, which I think is meant to provide a pure Prog-Metal edge to the music. This may be seen as conditioning his performance, but I believe that the original idea behind this particular approach was thought on purpose. Finally, Alda Reis furthers the vocal balancing by providing a counterbalance tone to that of Linx. Alda is a terrific singer as proved in this album, and the best compliment I can give her is that, for instance in Creating Atmosphere she sounds just like The Gathering’s Anneke.
Carlos Bateras drumming is secure and very focused on the music, keeping things running on the background without stepping that musch into the spotlight.
Nuno Silva’s participation is more noticeable for the Cello parts, that beautifully merge with the more serene parts (just listen to The Desert Planet…).
Vasco Patrício (ptRocker, Mispel Bellyful, Miosótis) has a guitar playing style that perfectly embraces the musical conceptuality of Hugo, so his “hand” hits the nail right in its head, soloing with energy and flair.
Fred Lessing (Daymoon, Mispel Bellyful), though only participating in one track, adds with his percussion work and especially his mesmerizing Baroque Flute, a melodic component of great richness.
Finally Paulo Chagas (Miosótis, Mispel Bellyful, Oficina Sonora, Zappanóia, Zpoluras). What to say more about my contemporary favourite prog and prog-related Portuguese musician if not to thank him for his participation in this album?
Paulo is a force of nature that can cope with any music style with ease. He is not usually a heavy prog fan, but the way he melodically constructed both his Saxophone and Flute playing in this album sounds miraculously conceived. This must have been a fun thing to do, but a hard work as well, for he dismisses totally his true vocation for atonal and avant-garde dissonances and keeps things on the brilliantly melodic and emotional side. Just listen to his Sax solo on Living Under a Blue Sky or the middle-eastern Flute work in Cheops and you will know exactly what I mean.

From all written above you must have already figure the album out. It is a game of balance between power and melody, excess and control, expansion and intimacy, shout and smooth.
The album mixes symphonic with heavy, new age with metal, progressive with pure rock. And it connects those different aspects in a bright and complex net of constant changes, with atmospheric and even eerie bridges between more powerful parts. I would not consider it Prog-Metal, but more like a bombastic Neo-Prog with symphonic elements which both fans of Prog-Metal and Neo Sympho Prog will undoubtedly like.

Another thing I would really like to point out is the excellent quality of the mixing and production of the album. The sound of each instrument is crystal clear, even when the multi-layering reaches its culmination moments, with lots of instruments playing at the same time. This ends up being a real quality add-on to this album, allowing the listener to fully enjoy what is being played at any moment, independent of the intricacy or simplicity of the moment.