THE ORIGINS OF RUIN

I was very much looking forward to this one after the excellent "Fulness Of Time", but right from the first listen I knew something was missing. This record seems more polished and the individual play is held in check more, instead relying on a collective sound. Even the amazing drumming of Chris doesn't standout nearly as much as on "Fulness Of Time" or on his PRYMARY's recordings.

"The Suffocating Silence" starts off like a house on fire ! It seems to settle down a little, but then the riffs hit us hard. Vocals with background synths take over before we get a keyboard solo 3 1/2 minutes in. I like the guitar solo 5 minutes in. "Bleed Me Dry" has a tasteful intro for just over a minute when the heaviness arrives. Piano melodies 3 1/2 minutes in with a great guitar and drum melody to follow. Check out the guitar solo 6 1/2 minutes in. "The Death Of Faith And Reason" features heavy drums and guitar as well as a good tempo. A ripping guitar solo after 3 minutes. This is dark and complex. "Memory" is the longest track as well as my favourite. It seems like the instrumental work after 6 minutes is so intense yet Ray's vocals are so calm. Earlier, after 4 minutes the melody is catchy and the vocals are fantastic.

"The Origins Of Ruin" has fragile vocals and piano. Drums come in before it ends. "Men Of Glass" is ok and the vocal melody 3 minutes in is a nice touch. "Blind My Eyes" is better, as it has some good energy and some great guitar.The song seems to speed up later on. "Used To Be" is fast and heavy for over a minute before it calms down when Ray starts to sing with synths in tow. The heaviness comes back. "Fall On You" opens with some beautiful guitar and vocals. It's full speed ahead after that. Tempo changes continue and there is a great section 7 1/2 minutes in. The song ends as it began.

This is a good record, it just doesn't suit my tastes like the "Fulness Of Time" does. 3.5 stars.

Redemption is a US-based prog band, and "The Origins of Ruin" is their third release.

Musically they reside somewhere between Symphony X and Dream Theater in style; with the grittier guitar sound of the former and the big epic soundscapes of the latter.

But the devil is in the details though; Redemption has a much larger variation in guitar style than Symphony X, and the big epic Dream Theater feel is not ever-present - but used when needed. The synths are used effectively to enhance the moods in mellow as well as grandiose moods. Vocals are quite original for the genre as being melodic and relaxed - no screaming sirens here - and the drum patterns are good and more detailed than usual in this genre.

Good songs as well, mostly. Worthwhile checking out for prog metal fans.

I bought this in a period I was really into prog metal. I heard this was a bit of a sensation so time to check it out. I still have to go for its predecessor Fulness of time but from what I have detected here and there it can hardly be a disappointment so I will check that one out too not too long from now.

First a review of this latest of Redemption and after a lot of listening I can say we are dealing with one of the leading bands in prog metal in my believe ! It's already obvious after the opening song The Suffocating Silence, one of the better of the album that we are dealing with a band that is really on fire ! What an energy they produce and when the album continues this doesn't get any less I can tell you. Bleed me dry is of the same calibre as is the next one. But with Memory, my favourite of the whole album, the band proves they also have compositional talents. What a great track this is ! With the next 2 songs the album gets on a bit of a lower level but fortunately this is just a temporary thing because with the last three they are back on track again ! Blind my eyes is the hidden jewel of the album for me because of the superb guitar solo at the end. Used to be and Fall on you are of the same level as the first and fourth track to me and make this album an absolute classic.

It's even close to a masterpiece to me but I will come to an average of 4,4 all in all so that means it just misses out on that but a prog metal diamond it certainly is !

If you love energetic music, this one is definitely for you!

For those of you who love progressive metal or specifically Fates Warning, you might have expected this album will be somewhat similar because this involves Fates Warning's lead singer. That's actually what I expected before spinning this album. But when I spun at the first time, I found it different, musically, from what i have been hearing from Fates Warning albums. It's not that completely different because it's progressive metal, so you still can find some heavy riffs here and there. The first time I spun this album was under the situation when I drove at the highway, returning home from Bogor to Jakarta. What a great experience, really, in a sense that I was alone in a car and I wanted a company. It has always been the case that rock music is the best company for such situation. So, you can imagine how uplifting my feeling at that time. Especially when I found the opening track was truly an energetic and dynamic music. This is a good sign because I could fully enjoy the music while driving alone. The music cheered me up! Remember, to me music is emotion. Whenever I find a music which can dilute smoothly into my heart, i can consider it as a good or excellent one.

So to say, I consider "The Suffocating Silence" (6:37) is definitely an excellent track. It's not just that the soul and grooves meet my expectation and situation-wise fit my taste. Even, if I am listening to it in different situation, I still would say that this opening track is an excellent one. Look at how the band has successfully combined high energy, melody, riffs and rhythm section blend beautifully in relatively fast-speed music. The keyboard solo by Nick van Dyk really surprises me in a sense that I had not expected the song would come into this way. Yes, there is a Dream Theater part at approx minute 5:00, and it's still a very nice thing to have in this album. Anyway, we get used to this kind of music, right? Surprisingly, I don't get bored having (again?) this kind of combined riffs and music harmonies in relatively fast pace fashion, until the song ends. It's superb!

"Bleed Me Dry" (6:55) kicks off in ambient mode with tight bass guitar line which brings the music enters nicely (drums and guitar) where it's obvious that Bernie Versailes plays its role on early guitar solo just before the music enters into soft guitar riffs that accompany vocal. It's another excellent track that I enjoy as well. Ray Adler's vocal reminds me strongly to Fates Warning but the music that accompanies is quite different. "The Death of Faith & Reason" (4:51) brings the music into heavy riffs in fast tempo with bass guitar serves as main rhythm section. The third track maintains the momentum of high energy delivered right from the opening track.

As the title implies, you might find the next track "Memory" (9:30) provides something soft. Yeah, you are absolutely right! The band is smart to stick around with our emotion. Just right after the first three full blast, high powered and high energy music, they thought it's about time to take a bit of break. The opening part of this fourth track gives you some sort of relaxation with relatively long ambient music for approximately 2.5 minutes until it moves in crescendo with some more energetic rhythm as well as vocal line. In fact, this is a very nice track with relatively smooth style changes over time. There are some breaks with piano and it continues with excellent fast speed music, stunning guitar solo, rhythm as well as grooves.

"The Origins of Ruin" (2:47) is another nice break with soft piano work that accompanies low register notes of Ray. It's a very good track, indeed. "Man of Glass" (5:05) brings the music back to progressive metal scene with good combination of vocal and musical instruments. The next track "Blinded" (5:55) starts mellow and moves into more energetic performance in medium tempo. The ending part of this track is truly inspiring, where keyboard, dynamic drums, guitar and bass work together nicely in neat composition. I admire that the ending part is really great.

"Used to Be" (6:08) is a fast speed music with nice combination of guitar riffs, keyboard and dynamic drumming. "Fall on You" (9:24) is, I think, the best track the band offers to us. It has all the ingredients of symphonic prog with metal vein. The music flows beautifully from start to end with in some cases the rhythm section that comprises riffs are beautifully combined with piano fills and stunning guitar solo backed with multi-layered keyboard sounds. Even though I do not find any weak track in this album, it sounds to me that this last track is very well-positioned by the band to conclude the album. It has become my preference having a nice combination of heavy music riffs with symphonic keyboard work, and this track gives me this satisfactorily. The keyboard solo at approx 6:30 is really inspiring and I fully enjoy this part.

With such comments on track-by-track level, what do you expect me to say about this album, overall? I have no reason to say that this is a damn excellent album that satisfy my expectations. It has great energy, nice melody, tight composition, relatively fast tempo music and .. last but not least .. the overall album demonstrates cohesiveness of its structure and composition. Highly recommended! Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Redemption is already a name in prog metal field for almost a decade, releasing so far 4 albums. If previous one Fullness of time was an excellent prog metal release with outstanding songwritting and musicianship, this third album from their catalogue named Origins of ruin is no less a great work. From the first piece The Suffocating Silence, maybe the best from here, Redemption shows no mercy in this field, great and catchy tune with musicianship of the highest calibre. The pieces goes from one to another very well and smooth, with energic moments all over the place, crafty arrangements and polished production. The music as I said is energic, similar in places with Symphony X but less symphonic and Fates Warning with excellent duels between guitar and keybords, fantastic voice this Adler, just check out the title track, neary 2.5 min smooth and very well sung. So, a very worthy album in prog metal zone, little less convinceing then Fullness of time but keeping the high standars of prog metal on every piece. Great musicians and album 3.5 rounded to 4, cover art is great too.