METAEPITOME

I suppose this is technically neo-progressive, but it certainly seems that the lines between metal, heavy/art rock, and neo-progressive have become quite blurred in recent years. Ever since Opeth discovered that music can be evocative even without growling, and that dude from Green Carnation went unplugged, and After Crying went ‘overground’, there seems to be a plethora of ‘sensitive’ metal bands on the landscape that put out beautiful music that still manages to be forceful and decisive.

And this band does just that, beginning with an epic length masterpiece of simple and unquestionably progressive music on the opening title track. The Fender and organ are dazzling in their easy cadence and in the surreal mood they set behind the throbbing bass. I don’t particularly care for the drums on this track as they seem almost perfunctory, but otherwise this is a great neo-cum-metal tune which has vocals that can actually be understood without the liner notes (which is always a plus for me!). Awesome guitar work as well, especially in the middle section, and the acoustic guitar and piano fading ending provide a perfect finish.

“Warning: Ending (Without Warning)” is one of the more melodic metal tunes I’ve ever heard, well-constructed, engaging and almost reggae at times, and even despite the slightly cheesy choral vocals and the weird minstrel-like passage at the end, this track provides some interesting variety.

The best guitar work on the album comes with “Point of View”, long whiny riffs full of inflection and emotion. This is the kind of ‘guitar god’ stuff that makes music worth listening to – Jaako Kettunen is excellent and expressive without seeming to need to demonstrate just how fast he can play or how many variations he can squeeze into a single tune.

Same goes for “Butterfly's Cry”, except that here the drums are quite interesting with an unusual rhythm, while the vocals could have been spared as far as I’m concerned.

“Arrival of the red Bumblebee” is a short instrumental that reminds me very much of the first After Crying album, but it seems the production is a little bit lacking here as the piano gets fuzzed a bit at times.

The closing “Dawn” starts off sounding like an Alan Parsons tune with a heavier rhythm section than Parsons usually employed, but with nowhere near as good of vocals as most Project albums had. This is a rather weak track, and was probably extended unnecessarily long in order to bring this to proper album length.

A pretty new band that I don’t know much about (another one of my kid’s discoveries!), but overall I think this is a very enjoyable album, and I would enthusiastically recommend it to most metal and neo-prog fans. Closer to four stars than three, but not on-par with most other albums I have given four stars to.

peace