BATTLE OF EGOS

Winter Crescent is a young progressive metal band from Greece with one album in their pockets so far named Battle of egos self released in 2009. Well, what we have here is a tipycal progressive metal album who brings absolutly nothing new in the field. Musicaly speaking they are ok even great in places, title track specialy, but what bother me is the voice, realy to much time is very forced in comparation with music, I mean the instruments flow very well from a piece to another but the voice remain stuck in same attitude and almost same range and arrangements. So, nothing much to add, pleasent album overall but nothing special for sure, maybe next time they will find the right formula to make a real solid album in progressive metal zone.3 stars is best I can give. Album available at cdbaby. Nice cover art by the way.

"Battle of Egos" is a 7 track, 34:17 minutes long EP release by Greek, Crete, Heraklion based progressive metal act Winter Crescent. The EP was self-released through Bandcamp in May 2009. Winter Crescent have existed since 2000, but it wasn't until 2008 that a stable lineup was established. "Battle of Egos" is as such a demo EP, but these days with loads of self-released releases what constitutes a demo and what doesn't is a bit unclear.

...the only thing about "Battle of Egos" that points in the direction of this release being a demo is the sound production, which at times could have used a more professional hand. It's a slight issue though when the quality of the music is as high as it's the case here. Winter Crescent play a rather dark, heavy and occasionally even slightly psychadelic progressive metal style. The band are a "regular" metal constellation with two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer and a singer. No keyboards on this one. The tracks feature complex structures and the band often play with tempo- and time signature changes. There is a good balance between varied heavy riffing and more atmospheric sections. While there are no keyboards in the music, the band instead skillfully add texture to some sections by adding harmony layers of feedback guitars placed low in the mix. A very nice feature and something I hope the band will experiment with further in the future.

The band are genereally well playing but it's lead vocalist Nikos Spyridakis that takes them a level higher. He has a strong voice that sometimes reminds me of Warrel Dane (Sanctuary, Nevermore) and when he sings most odd I hear slight nods toward Buddy Lackey (Psychotic Waltz) (take a listen to the middle section in "Furrow" for proof of the latter mentioned influence). He is very expressive and sings with great passion. In addition to the above mentioned influences I think there are nods toward mid- to late nineties Fates Warning in the music too. But that's when the band play their more technical parts. It's the opening trio of tracks, which form the "Battle of Egos" suite that are most impressive to my ears and I do feel that the longer into the EP I get, some songwriting issues begin to appear. It's nothing too serious, but the quality and the memorability factor do drop slightly a couple of times during the playing time.

Despite a sound production that might be lacking a bit of a professional touch and a few compositional weaknesses in some tracks, "Battle of Egos" is a very enjoyable progressive metal release. Provide these guys with enough money to buy studio time and a professional producer and I'm sure their next release will be even more killer than this one already is. In it's current form this EP is still a very promising first release from a very promising act and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Greece's metal scene may not be as expansive as the landscape of some other European countries, but acts like Crete's Winter Crescent prove that there are more top-notch bands from this small nation than one may initially assume. Showcasing a style of old school progressive metal reminiscent of Fates Warning and Psychotic Waltz, the band's 2009 debut EP entitled Battle of Egos is the sort of music that really connects with me as a listener - the songwriting is sophisticated without sounding self-indulgent, the melodies are strong without sounding like cheap hooks, and the music gets pretty heavy without ever losing sight of memorability. If you, like me, can't get enough of classic progressive metal releases, Battle of Egos is a downright essential listen.

Perhaps due to the raw production values and two-guitarist instrumentation (there are no keyboards here), Winter Crescent's music reminds me mostly of late eighties' and early nineties' progressive metal in the vein of Fates Warning, Queensryche, and especially Psychotic Waltz. The American one-album progressive thrash metal wonder The Last Things wouldn't be a bad point of reference either, as Winter Crescent's generally dark atmospheres and gritty guitar tones give off a bit of a thrash vibe. The important thing to take note of, though, is that Battle of Egos is old school to the bone, and folks that miss the days when progressive metal sounded more like a complex version of traditional metal than a separate genre will be delighted to hear this one.

At over 34 minutes, Battle of Egos is also a fairly lengthy EP release, so it's a great value when one considers the generally high level of compositional talent exhibited by Winter Crescent. Each of the tracks are memorable and interesting enough to warrant numerous repeat listens, but "Furrow" is my personal favorite; Nikos Spyridakis's vocals really bring Devon Graves to mind here! As talented as all of the instrumentalists here are (and talented they are indeed; there are more than enough complex rhythmic ideas and melodic leads to satisfy any progressive metalhead), it's Nikos's tremendous vocal performance that really propels Winter Crescent into the upper tier of the genre.

Although Battle of Egos is perhaps not the most groundbreaking release in recent memory and a more professional production would benefit Winter Crescent's music greatly, I have completely fallen in love what these Greeks have put together for their debut EP. This is some excellent material, and I will be eagerly awaiting Winter Crescent's next move!

With a hearty 35 min EP, Winter Crescent make their appearance in the prog-metal scene, a nice treat to those fed up with the typical melodic, keyboard-driven (often imitating) Dream Theater-esque style.

Winter Crescent take an opposite route, that of in-your-face, pounding heavy and dark progressive metal and they succeed in creating something worthy of mention and untypical of the Greek metal scene. It took a few spins for me to grasp the massive influence that Control Denied's sound has had on the guitarist duo; the 'ghost' of Chuck Schuldiner definitely makes its appearance in this release on the solid heavy/thrash riffs and the melodic, 'sliding' clean passages and solos. What a great start.

Vocals have always been an issue for the Greek metal bands, but not as much here. The vocals of Spyridakis are well-balanced and remain at low octaves, matching the sound of the band; no efforts for high-pitched screamers here, rather an effort towards a more "theatrical" approach, reminding somewhat of Warrel Dane of Nevermore and at times (see 'Furrow') of Devon Graves of Psychotic Waltz. Both aforementioned bands seem to have had a big influence on Winter Crescent's sound, the former on the construction of riffs and general heaviness and the latter on the dark approach with regards to the composition and melodies. My only small complaint on the vocals is that at times the singer attempts to "over-do" it, sounding too "intentional" of what he tries to achieve.

The sequence of the first three tracks works extremely well, as do the majority of compositions, with 'My Last Will' and the title track being potentially the slightly less interesting out of the package. Otherwise, this is a very good, "no-messing-about", old-school (but yet contemporary in a way) progressive metal proposal (no keyboards, dragons and fairytales here).

Solid production and solid act, decent start; we shall wait to hear more from Winter Crescent.

3.5 stars deserved.