ALPHA-OMEGA

Too much balls, if you ask me. The newest addition to the roster of independent prog metal bands is Axiom, from good 'ol Cali. Their debut EP ''Alpha-Omega'' seems to be anything but progressive. Rather, it's more like thrash metal that's enraged and full of anger. Their biggest influence? METALLICA! All of the songs scream Metallica, especially ''Dead Dream'' which in its opening moments sounds like a ''Master of Puppets'' ripoff. There is barely a soft spot or any melody to be found on the EP. It's too overpowering how aggressive the songs are for 45 minutes, I was begging for a change in tempo or atmosphere or something.

Another thing to note: the production. The guitar drowns out everything, the drums sound like they're in only one channel of my earphones while everything else occupies the right. The bass you can hear sometimes, but the vocals are mixed WAYYYY too low. Speaking of vocals, the rough vocals suit the music well but it's not my cup of tea, plus the lyrics seem like ''grunge'' lyrics, in that they seem like they were written by a pissed-off 15-year-old after an altercation with his parents.

All in all, Axiom's ''Alpha-Omega EP'' is NOT progressive metal. The evidence lies in the lack of melody, the immature lyrics, and overuse of constant high tempo. Plus, the production is a bit shoddy. Definite room for improvement.

The band is working on a new album right now, and I hope that they will take a step in the right direction and try some variety in their music and develop some maturity.

This is the first music from California metal band, Axiom. It's a 7-track EP, and a good debut. Now, this really isn't prog metal. It's a lot more like Metallica and Megadeth, and in my mind, that's not much of a problem. This is superb thrash metal. HERE IS and ALL FOR NOTHING are the highlight tracks right here, though nothing else is bad. While it's not prog metal, some of the music is average. The music really ranges from okay to great, but like I said, nothing's bad. The musicianship is showing, and I love the solos and the guitar breaks that seem to be in every song (nothing wrong with that). The only huge problem is the recording quality. Now, i realize that this is their beginning, so the quality shouldn't be great, but the guitar really drowns everything else. Now, this is a great EP to own for anyone, but for starters, their next album really is much better. 4/5 for regular metal, 3.5/5 for prog metal.