DARKNESS IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT

Almost 10 years since the disappointing FWX album, Fates are back with a new release and a very strong line-up, combining old faces (Frank Aresti, Joey Vera) and a new entry (Bobby Jarzombek). "Darkness in a Different Light" could well be the conclusion from listening to the 56+ minutes of "new" music, but I prefer to keep a slightly more optimistic view.

Surely, the typical-Fates, heavy openers in "One Thousand Fires" and "Firefly" leave a promise for a strong follow-up but this new album suffers from recycled ideas ("I Am" is a copy of "One" from Disconnected), too much resemblance to associated acts (OSI) and reveals some contemporary influences such as Opeth (see "Into the Black") and Tool that don't strengthen its personal character. Musically, the heavy riffing is a continuation of APSOG and Disconnected, with the Sabbathy/groovy sound that Matheos has employed since 1997. The middle part of the album is simply indifferent, if not bad, but a glimmer of hope comes with "O Chloroform" and the only memorable composition "And Yet it Moves", which clocks at 14 minutes and saves the day. Acoustic guitar intro, an inspired main theme, galloping riffs on heavy bass lines and a decent melodic refrain with plenty of variation - now that sounds more like it. The re-introduction of acoustic guitars takes away the momentum for a while but the track recovers shortly after.

If you liked the album Disconnected, you would probably enjoy this; an improvement over FWX, but nowhere near the pre-2000 solid works. Not recommended to a new comer to Fates, but still a decent return to light for the fans...

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