“Imaginations through the lookin’ glass”
After 12 years, the Corfiot progsters arrived happily at their fifth album. For those who have not heard them until now, as I do, their music consists of progressive metal, based more on lyricism than technique, but without neglecting the last. The keys embrace ideally the sound, producing an amazing result by going fast from some fast heavy riffs to some slow atmospheric and quiet passages.
This is what happens in this album with long songs with a variety of experimentation, rotations and transitions to the riff. All this combined with the warm voice of Vangelis Kakarougkas (with backgrounds in Kinetic and Equal Vector), which lies behind the keys, creating a very tight result, sometimes lyrical, sometimes wandering and more guitar-driven. The melodic outbursts are a characteristic element in the sound which is admittedly based and synthesized on keyboards, but leaves the guitars to lead where and when needed.
The feat of the album is that a progressive album don’t need to be technical to stand out. When in every song of the disc the melodies have a leading role and create a wandering drifting feeling and thus you are not bothered by technical training. But what really elevates the disc are the moments of transition from the melody to legal technicality, keeping the feeling and tempo in the compositions. The same applies the most calm and atmospheric points. Each song can cause different emotions to the listener with the variety they have. Also, the long duration of the compositions leaves the band free and the songs breathe easier.
The experimentations mentioned above are different for each song. There are sounds from different instruments, created exclusively by the keys, fully plausible, as for example the Hammond. Also, at the title track of the album, are recruited brutal vocals that blend seamlessly with this emotion. All together have created a very particular and pleasant-sounding result, which deserves to be heard by every friend of lyric and experimental progressive.
And it’s a shame that such a good band still remains unknown even within the borders, and after five discs they don’t even have had some rudimentary recording. Be noted finally that the disc contains two songs from their two previous albums in the same style, which work flawlessly as promotional samples of their work so far.
Score: 77/100
For Rock Overdose,
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