FORMLESS

"Formless" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Aghora. The album was released through Dobles Productions in December 2006. It´s the successor to the eponymously titled debut album from 2000 and features quite a few lineup changes since the predecessor. In fact it´s only guitarist/band founder Santiago Dobles who remains from the lineup who recorded the debut album. Female lead vocalist Danishta Rivero has been replaced by Diana Serra, bassist Sean Malone has been replaced by Alan Goldstein, and Giann Rubio has been added to fill the drum position. About half of the tracks on the album are however performed by Sean Reinert (Cynic, which ensures that Aghora still retain some of the Cynic/Death connection, which made their debut album a hyped affair among technical/progressive death metal fans.

Stylistically the material on "Formless" continued the jazz/fusion influenced technical/progressive metal style of the debut album. It´s still predominantly Cynic I´m reminded of, but of course with a female lead vocalist Aghora ultimately sound different. Some parts are heavy, even brutal, and could well have been included on a 90s technical/progressive death/thrash metal release, while other parts of the album are mellow world music/jazz/fusion influenced. Diana Serra is arguably a skilled vocalist with a strong voice, but her melody lines and the way she performs them will probably divide the waters. She often performs long sustained notes and the vocal lines are not often that melodic and seldom features hooks. So Serra´s performance is definitely in the more unique end of the spectrum, but the lack of hook laden melodies often make the vocals sound monotone and even emotionless. To my ears it sounds like the music was composed first, and then almost as an afterthought the vocals were added, and sometimes it feels like the two parts of the music aren´t connected at all.

"Formless" features a well sounding production job, and the musical performances are all on a high level, so even if you have a hard time enjoying the vocals (like me), "Formless" is a high quality release filled to the brim with adventurous songwriting ideas and it´s impossible not to be impressed by what the band produces. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved, although I personally find the album more interesting than great.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)