CHANGING TIMES

Influenced by the social and economic situation of our days, Spanish prog metallers Wake of Confusion released their debut album 'Changing Times' in 2012. A number of interesting and important social messages come through the lyrics and in a 'controlled-anger' manner WoC deliver dynamic progressive metal in the vein of Dream Theater.

Seven compositions in a little less than 50 minutes provide a balanced package (not too short, not too long) with the music led by the powerful progressive metal riffs of Rober Dominguez and the aggressive tone of Luis Perez. The paths taken on this release follow closely 'Images and Words' and 'Awake'-era Dream Theater while a hint of Symphony X is added here and there, particularly on the singing approach and the sequence/construction of the riffs. Their European origin appears less prominent and mainly through the keyboard passages of Loreto Otero, bringing to mind acts such as Vanden Plas or Royal Hunt.

WoC are definitely not short of ideas; the album comes out as very technical, with the balance tilting slightly towards aggression and less on melody. This does not come as a surprise as the three mentioned above all have music degrees. However, the highlights from this album come from those tracks that exert the highest degree of originality: 'Bored Millionaires' incorporates Arabic elements over modern Dream Theater-influenced heavy riffing and 'Techno-Barbarity' mixes 70's progressive rock with references to Rush, Uriah Heep (!), a bit of Yes with a keyboard-filled atmosphere and heavy-tone pianos, over two or three different but equally intriguing sections.

Overall, a very good debut from WoC that shows a lot of potential for the future, providing they focus on the most innovative elements of their sound and invest more on originality and musicianship, not necessarily built on their technical ability (which they have already proved).

3+/5 stars

Originally compiled for www.justincaseradio.com