NO EXIT

The true tip of Fates Warning at their creative and progressive peak. This album is an onslaught of classic progressive metal, and by and far ahead of most their other releases in terms of pure aggression and bite.

Soft atmospheric opener No Exit betrays your ears as The blisteringly knotty and ferocious Anarchy Divine rips you apart. The playing is jagged and perverse in its powerful maddening complexity and sheer thundering force. The lyrics are thought felt, and the singing is more impassioned than ever before (or perhaps after). The solos are tossed in indiscriminately for this song, and each one smacks you hard.

Silent Cries doesn't let the fire go, and assaults you with another fierce shark slash. This one is more restrained and realized than the previous song. What it sacrifices in force (which isn't much) is supplemented by shifting times and vibrant alterations. The vocals are enthralling, to be sure. Fates Warning at their darkest and most venomous.

In A Word halts to a soft and enticing crawl. Well, that is until it smashes then jerking itself back. A lovable train crash. Shades Of Heavenly Death is utterly devastating. A raging stomp the likes of this band has never seen before. More excellent screeching from Ray, and with fine lyrical content. Nothing on this album fails to impress, and it does so in multiple ways. Flailing madly and unexpectedly, this is their most interesting release.

Then the rain comes. It arrives the shape of the 20 minute long epic Ivory Gate of Dreams. Possibly the overall finest moment Fates Warning ever crafted. It slowly builds from the first couple of minutes, before ti thrashes itself wildly amongst complex rhythms and melodies, riffing at a furious rate, and changing itself sporadically. This disjointed nature is fantastic, and highly unpredictable. It is almost as if the guitars laugh at you as they fly and stomp, crafting an angry and eerily dark, entrancing atmosphere. The jazzy trots that pop in, along with the fierce solos dripping in and out, as the song slowly progressive and alters itself over time. Both deep, complex, and metallic. This is the album peak, end, apex, and boundary crusher.

That's it. Half the album is fiery classic progressive metal, the other half a towering epic with many enjoyable facets. I can't cite much as a real negative aspect of the album. Perhaps the brash and raw nature of it all could turn some people off, but it is certainly a classic, and Fates Warning at one of their strongest moments.

Best Song - Ivory Gate Of Dreams

Worst Song - In A Word, but it is still great.

***** stars

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