HEGAIAMAS: A SONG FOR FREEDOM

2017 started off pretty well.

This is the 4th album of the Athenians who steadily gain pace after appearing in ProgPower a couple of years or so ago.

The acid prog metal sound of the band found in the previous album still makes its way in tracks such as ''Tilikum'', albeit in a smaller scale; this fact makes the album more digestible than its predecessor. Jon V's vocals range from melodic to acid-thrashy, their tone mostly resembling to Ray Alder but also not afraid of experimenting in Warrel Dane-like fashion. This is supported from the overall sound of Hegaiamas, which reveals its main influence in the face of Fates Warning; riffy, melodic, contemporary prog metal.

The album starts off with the two most accessible tunes and highlights, Rememory and Alltribe, a great way to get the listener interested in the rest. The heaviness increases with Therianthrope and Riverthane reaching its peak with Tilikum before dropping to a 5-minute narration of a dream / piano piece in the form of I.O.T.A.; although completely different than the rest, it's an interesting interlude in the ongoing bombardment of riffage. The ghost of Nevermore hangs over the heavier tunes, ensuring that no cheesiness is let through the door (I think I can hear some drop-D tunes here and there but don't hold me to this). The 20+ min. title track is solid proof that NEED can survive epic songs withoug losing the listener in the maze of riffs. Complex but not too much, heavy and melodic enough to keep the balance. The tunes on this song slightly resemble to "Memory Palace" of Between Buried and Me which brings a faint (and positive) smile to my face.

The selective appearance of Evergrey, Dream Theater and Pain of Salvation confirm that NEED have filtered and mastered their influences. Quality-wise, this sits up there with the best ever Greek prog-metal releases (e.g. Until Rain's Anthem to Creation). The production is pristine and flawless, the musicianship superb; narrations could be cut down a little. I suspect the next step is that they create something entirely of their own character. Until then, they will certainly be a fresh breath of modern quality prog metal.

4(-)

I'm going to start by saying that Need is great at making short songs, and absolutely brilliant at making long ones. It is without a doubt their skill to be capable of making a +15 Minute song that entertains you from beginning to end (another example is Orvam's Title Track), and not all Prog-Metal bands are capable of doing such thing *cough cough* Tool *cough cough*

I mean to be honest if it wasn't because of the 20min track, this album would be 3.5 stars (although I would personally round it up to 4), but that epic is so amazing it feels like a crime for me to give it a four star rating.

Anyways the rest of the songs are still great. The opener is catchy (but not in a radio-friendly, commercial way), Alltribe is a surprisingly versatile track despite its length. Therianthrope is a very solid track that stays loyal to the Prog-Metal genre... Very strong stuff overall!

But again, the Title Track is the cherry at the top. Dynamic, melodic, beautiful, brutal at some points, reflective at some others... It has everything you could ask for a Prog-Metal epic.

4.5 stars, rounded up to five because of Hegaiamas. Highly recommended!