ALOGIA

In Alogia, Srdjan plays together with his brother Miroslav (guitar), Vladimir Ranisavljevic (bass), Srdjan Golubica (drums), and vocalist Nikola Mijic.

Keyboards and synths are played by Vladimir Djedovic, who unfortunately had to leave the band after recording the album to pursue other activities.

These six musicians delivered an album with powerful metal that shows both great musicianship and a couple of very clear influences. Sometimes there's a hint of early '90s progressive metal, then power metal, and always two guitars and a keyboard ready to add some fast, whirling or mixed melodies over the metronomic rhythm guitar and drums. The high pitched vocals are well executed, although the Serbian lyrics may be a bit of a hurdle for an international audience.

On the album, this leads to a mixed variety of tracks. On tracks like Almagest, Callis Ad Astra and Galija we find rhythmic riffing that reminds of early 80s prog metal (Dream Theater) mixed with late 80s melodic keyboards and guitars (Halloween, Gamma Ray). In other places, the prog metal element disappears in favour of power metal, which is the case on Vreme je and the title track Elegia Balcanica.

Of a completely different nature are the tracks Us Tisini, which is slower and more keyboard heavy than the rest of the album and Intentionally Blind, a thrash metal bordering track. The latter is a worthy tribute to Death founder Chuck Shuldiner, who died of cancer in 2001.

Production wise, the album could have benefited from a slightly lighter mix. The bass is hard to be found, because the low end is dominated by drums, keyboard and rhtyhm guitar, and the drums sound a bit 'woody' in places.

Overall, this is a well executed power metal album, by a capable band, but with room for improvement. Given that this is the bands fourth album, and especially the previous two received good reviews, there is more to check out than just this one for who's really interested.

Also published on my blog www.angelosrockorphanage.com

Regarding the music, we are in for some catchy tunes, where shy verses (like on "Galija") or more agressive (like on "Vreme je") turn to anthemic choruses with cheerful vocals. All along the record, we are exposed to galloping rhythms, hasty drumming, above-the-standard guitar playing, at times harpsichord-sounding keyboards when they are not filling out the space in an orchestral or enchanting way, and singalong-driven chorus. Some arabian-sounding violins in the first half of the album also add a traditional touch to the whole ("Callis ad Astra", "Galija", "Elegia Balcanica"). Altogether, all those elements interlock quite well, even if originality is not outstanding.

On a final note, this album can be recommended to anyone who is into the more melodic branch of power/prog metal. The use of local language is not so common in this category, and we can salutate the band for this courageous endeavour.

It's also proven by the length of most songs: just one above 5 minutes and the rest is a bunch of uncomplicated metal with an average of about 4 minutes completed with a couple of short interlude-like tracks. So nothing to get really excited about if you are looking for true prog metal. And because of this I will keep my rating limited this time. Not because it's a weak album (on a metal site I would rate this 3,5 or 4 stars probably) but because this is Prog Archives. So just three.

The biggest change is that there is no more resemblance with Symphony X. I still wouldn't call this an original style, but it's far from blind copying. Another very important difference is sound production, that has rapidly improved and is almost flawless now. So if you like clean sounding keyboard-driven progressive metal, this might be a good record to try.

Songwriting is still pretty strong, but I think I have caught several obvious filler songs that somehow disturb the overall atmosphere. It's not a crucial mistake, but still it is easy to notice. Other than those few songs, there are some very strong numbers like speedy Trgovci du?ama or the huge 10-minutes long complex progressive epos Metamorfoza.

So actually the only problem that is still persistent is the vocalist. I sense he has improved a bit, but his voice is still rather annoying in many passages that would be otherwise excellent. Or maybe I'm just a little biased - the guy might not be that bad, but with slightly better singer this could be a real masterpiece coming from Obscureland.

Anyway, this is still a very strong and surprising album, and all you power/prog fans all around the word are encouraged to check it whenever you have some free time :)

P.S. What a fine cover of Flashdance...What a Feeling / Love Theme [Instrumental] ! 4 stars is it.

On the bright side, the covers of YU hard rock sound excellent and they're worth purchasing the disc. Members of the famous rock bands from these lands (Osvajaci, Riblja Corba, Kerber, Divlje Jagode) joined forces for that night with AlogiA. And the result is awesome. Also, I have to mention the band's former keyboard player / backing vocal Branislav Dabic (now their sound engineer). The guy had marvelously sung Lament so many other singers can envy him.

In the end, this live album is a must-have for those who can't hear AlogiA live and would want to. For those who can, save your money for a show.

Alogia is such a band. They play a western style of music generally called epic power metal, the same kind of music that is played by the great American band, Kamelot, French band, Heavenly, Spanish band, Dark Moor, English band Dragonforce and a bevy of bands from Italy, Germany, Sweden and Finland.

Whether Alogia is an anomaly from Serbia or a trend I do not know. I came across them quite by accident, as I have some other bands, on one of my favorite websites: www.progarchives.com. One of the things I like about this site is that they seem to have the most comprehensive listing of the various sub genres of progressive rock around. They also have mp3 downloads available on many of the bands, which is how I got to hear Alogia. It's also how I got to hear Riverside and Archive, whose excellent albums I previously bought and reviewed.

The music of Alogia ranges from hard rocking melodic metal fare like 'Samson' and 'Secret Spheres', to speedy percussion driven Power Metal such as 'Legend of a Stolen Heart', 'As the Time Passes By' and 'Beyond the Time.' Nikola Mijicis provides more than adequate singing with an emotive slightly raspy voice that ranges from pleasant to screaming. As Musicians, the strength of the band seems to be strong guitar and keyboard playing, featuring two guitarists (brothers who were the bands founders) and two keyboardists.

The Secret Spheres of Art contains fourteen tracks but only runs a shade under forty-four minutes. That can be attributed to four instrumental tracks which only run from fifty seconds to a minute forty seconds. Call them suites or introductions to the following songs. Despite their brevity, they are a welcome and integral part of the album. I even consider three of them, Journey into the Dawn of Life, Astral Horizons and Overture Solemnis, highlight songs. Another instrumental song of note is the surreal two minute bombastic "Kontinium" which actually segues into the very short Middle Eastern flavored "Mystica Aegyptiorum," which segues into a chaotic rock song called "Amon."

Other Highlight songs are: . Secret Spheres features driving, somewhat hectic but catchy harmony led by a persistent synthesizer, strong drums and some strong singing. . Falling Asleep is warm feeling, melodious song, slightly slower, with some nice harmonic singing by the band. This particular song reminds me of the style of a band called Wonderland. . Lament is the only ballad on the album. Well, I guess it's really a rock ballad. Very melodious and very catchy. I'm not usually a ballad person but this is an exception. It kind of reminds me of a ballad by Tesla or Def Lepard

Conclusion

I like this band. There isn't anything revolutionary here but they have a nice sound and the work their instruments with precision. There is some orchestral backing on some of the songs as well. Rating 4.25 stars.

Secret Spheres introduces the album with a good, solid pace by Damir Adzic on the drums, reminding me of Adagio and some of its creative time signatures. The spacy interlude halfway through the track is followed nicely by some slick solo guitar by Miroslav Brankovic. Finally the song finishes with a driving barrage on the drums. One of the highlights of this album.

Journey Into The Dawn Of Life is a short atmospheric passage with some beautiful keyboards by Branislav Dabic.

Jumping ahead to Legend Of A Stolen Heart, a frantic pace is established with some nice work on drums and guitars. The next track, however, is the highlight of the album for me. I truly warmed up to Falling Asleep with its catchy guitar riff and a beautiful melody that manages to flourish throughout the song, but isn't overworked. Fun and enjoyable to listen to, easy on the ears, and a nice chorus to boot. It was one of the first songs along with Secret Spheres to capture my attention for this album.

Next is Kontinuum. It works effectively with a lonely soundscape and echoing guitars, followed closely by a heavier element of distortion and finally an exciting buildup of drums that had me fooled into anticipating an explosion of sound but instead ending with a radio fade, which was still satisfying.

Mystica Aegyptiorum is a short track that lives up to its name with a middle-eastern flavour, desert winds blowing in the background and some exotic guitar.

I was a little disappointed with the next track . Although it manages to keep the fast pace going by jumping right in with some nice drum and guitar work, and a heavy riff is introduced to add some depth, the overall song and vocals feel standard.

Beyond The Time feels like more of the same, although there was some nice solo work and a classical passage (not sure what composer originally made it, although it is well known) repeats itself first in the second portion of the song with Miroslav's guitars then a background passage in the end of the song with violins.

Lament is a ballad of sorts that slows down the pace of the album a bit, but felt lacking.

The next two tracks I continued to lose interest, as I felt the music was just a rehash of what I had heard earlier, although the last passage of As The Time Passes By redeems the song by with an enjoyable short guitar solo.

My attention was really brought back with Overture Solemnis, however, as I found the melody pleasant and as momentum builds with the guitars, I had a sense of anticipation which is rewarded when the guitars kick in. Miroslav does some more nice solo work here as well.

Finally, the album closer Samson begins with a nice introduction, capturing my attention immediately. Overall an enjoyable track, but nothing spectacular. However, it does justice to the album and leaves me feeling ultimately satisfied.

Although I felt the album begin to lose some momentum in the latter half, it finished off on a high point and I was not left feeling disappoined. I found Secret Spheres Of Art to be a consistent and interesting effort worth having in my collection.

Track 1 - 6:08 - Secret Spheres Great intro (sort of like Dream Theater - Learning To Live) Some good use of backup vocals Guitar Solo From 3:54 - 4:38 Guitar Flutter at 4:19 & 4:20 Rating - 9/10

Track 2 - 1:00 - Journey Into The Dawn Of Life Synths to Military snare with some guitar Relaxing track Rating - 6/10

Track 3 - 4:03 - Politics of War Fast track with decent synths in the middle Guitar Solo From 2:30 - 3:00 Rating - 7/10

Track 4 - 3:28 - Legend of A Stolen Heart Medieval sounding keys in the intro Fast track with decent guitar rifts Rating - 7/10

Track - 5 - 4:45 - Falling Asleep Starts off with slow synths then jams out to being very upbeat Great backup vocals Accoustic Guitar Solo 3:00 - 3:30 (some electric added at the end of it) Very catchy song 9/10

Track - 6 - 2:10 - Kontinuum Outer Space Travel like song of synths some drum beats that progress then fades into the next track 6/10

Track - 7 - 0:57 - Mystica Aegyptiorum Middle Eastern sounding track of hand drums & misc sounds 6/10

Track - 8 - 3:32 - Amon One of the more thrash tracks of the cd Guitar/Drum Solo 2:13 - 2:39 Ends with 15 seconds of accoustic guitar 7/10

Track - 9 - 3:28 - Beyond the Time Upbeat track From 1:45 - 1:58 kick ass 1980s Nintendo NES style midi music Some good guitar work 2/3 through Last 30 seconds goes from dead to the start of the next track 8/10

Track - 10 - 4:28 - Lament Slow and soft song Guitar Solo From 3:11 - 3:40 7/10

Track - 11 - 0:51 - Astral Horizons Military snare, nice keys, guitar & bass drum I would have liked this track to progress into a full song 8/10

Track - 12 - 3:43 - As the Time Passes By Upbeat track with varying tempos Guitar solo 2:35 - 3:15 Nice long guitar flutter at 2:43 9/10

Track - 13 - 1:40 - Overture Solemnis Trash sounding track that sounds scottish somewhat Sort of sounds like Kings Quest (the video game) music at the end 6/10

Track - 14 - 3:34 - Samson Overall a real good song Guitar solo 1:53 - 2:31 Guitar Flutter at 2:13 & 2:14 during solo The song/cd end with some great guitar work 8/10

Overall cd rating 8/10