Alkera (TR) for Progressive Metal

Style: progressive metal (mixed vocals, majority clean; lyrics in Turkish)
Recommended for fans of: Dream Theater, Haken, Symphony X, Seventh Wonder
Country: Turkey
Release date: 24 May, 2024

Reviewing music offers some fantastic opportunities to experience pieces of culture from around the world that I would otherwise probably never be exposed to. In this case, Alkera have caught my attention, stepping into new territory with their first full-length album and also their first recording with lyrics fully in their native language of Turkish. Thanks to my abiding love of Mägo de Oz’s Gaia trilogy, I’m no stranger to listening to metal in a language I don’t speak, though at least with Spanish I can muddle through on the back of my rapidly fading knowledge from high school and not rely entirely on Google Translate to follow along with the lyrics. Language and vocals aside though, Zamanın Ötesine communicates its message almost as well through the international language of instrumental music as it does through song.

Zamanın Ötesine enacts Alkera’s evolution in more ways than just their choice of language. To my ear, at least, the band have settled on a better balance of clean and harsh vocals than in their earlier work, in this case focusing more heavily on the cleans which are so well suited to the epic, cinematic presentation of Zamanın Ötesine. They’ve also stepped up their instrumental game, both for backing rhythm parts and for virtuosic solos like the ones at the ends of “Teslimiyet” and the title track, and even the all-instrumental opus “Peripeteya.” The band’s expanded stylistic range also allows them to experiment with more ballad-styled songs like “Son Rüya” and “Katatoni,” using soft piano and light backing parts to help support and highlight the vocals as the main focus while avoiding the tired riffs and formulaic composition that drag down the lesser tracks. In total, this latest outing sounds far more like an experienced band who know what they’re doing technically and what they want to accomplish musically, where their prior EPs still carry the hallmarks of inexperienced musicians searching for their creative footing.

Alkera’s lofty potential concentrates itself into a few specific standout tracks which achieve a level of composition and technical performance quality that truly earns the inevitable comparison to Dream Theater. The fully-instrumental “Peripeteya” caught my attention first with its quick time changes and tight, frenetic rhythms, but “Dilhun” and the title track also shine for their presentation of the album’s concept and themes on top of continued instrumental excellence. On these songs, vocalist Onur Çobanoğlu adds a welcome layer of emotion with his performances, enhancing the clean vocals with subtle yet operatic vibrato flourishes borrowed from Ostura’s Elia Monsef and mixing in crunchy growls when a little more punch is required. The later parts of Zamanın Ötesine, especially the closing title track, offer the greatest room for him to show off his storytelling power, but it’s the unassuming “Taş Yuva” that makes probably the best use of Çobanoğlu’s vocals, with greater presence of his harsh growls and impactful, emotional delivery of the lyrics all throughout. Although as I said, I don’t speak Turkish, a quick peek with Google Translate uncovers highly emotional lyrical themes dealing with overwhelming emotional pain and how to carry on with life despite the metaphorical scars that accumulate over time. Çobanoğlu’s heartfelt performance adds a critical emotional component to every song that he appears on, but “Taş Yuva” makes it felt most directly.

Despite all my praise for its high points, Zamanın Ötesine struggles with consistency, and its less-than-stellar tracks unfortunately undercut the final impression. The low points of the album, including “Kan Revan” and “Kör Kahin,” sound almost like a different band, with generic, repetitive riffs making up the backing parts and a disappointing lack of care in how the pieces fit together. Even a track like “Teslimiyet,” which carries a lot of the same invigorating energy as the stronger tracks, falls into a rut as it develops, settling into competent but generic-sounding rhythms and melodies with little that allows it to stand out (aside from the excellent instrumental solos at the very end). While not as repetitive and therefore boring as my least favorite tracks, these middling pieces still disappoint when compared to the few very high highs, and show that Alkera, despite their great progress so far, still have a lot more development ahead of them.

Creativity is an iterative process, and it’s always heartening to see a band reach the next step in their development. Alkera’s ever-increasing experience has brought them the ability to crank out some truly excellent individual tracks including a Dream Theater-worthy instrumental feature, and the switch to writing lyrics in their more familiar native tongue seems to have bolstered their lyrical writing and strengthened the emotional impact impact of their performance (whether or not the listener understands the words themselves). While there are still some kinks to work out before they can achieve fully consistent quality, Zamanın Ötesine represents an important step along the way and demonstrates what they’re capable of if they push themselves to their limits.