RETROSPECT

Aviations is a Boston-based progressive metal band, formed in 2011 when drummer James Knoerl and guitarist Sam Harchik were attending Berklee College of Music. Singer Adam Benjamin joined soon afterwards, and alongside some guest musicians they released their debut album, 'A Declaration of Sound' in 2012. It took until 2018 for their next album to be released, 'The Light Years', during which time the trio had expanded to a sextet. The band have continued to go through some line-up changes since then, and apart from the original trio only pianist Richard Blumenthal is still there from that album, and they have now been joined by Eric Palmer (guitar) and Werner Erkelens (bass).

As one may guess from the title of the EP, what we have here are some reworked versions of old songs, so we have newly recorded takes on "Outliers" and "Nineties Nine Ties" from the debut, plus instrumental versions of both, and a live acoustic performance of "Two Days" which appeared on the second album. As one would expect from anyone who has been at Berklee, the musicianship is out of this world, and I am somewhat surprised that at the time of writing that here is not a single review of any of their material on ProgArchives, which shows just how hard it is to get people to hear new music. There are times when they are more Meshuggah than Dream Theater, others where they are less bombastic and far gentler, and there is no doubt that "Outliers" itself is a real tour de force with nearly 12 minutes of switching between styles and providing loads of light and shade. When these guys decided to shred, they really go for it, mixing in djent, yet they can also be soft and quiet with Adam just having a piano to sing against. The acoustic number is also interesting in that it shows a very different side to the band, but also one where they seem very much at home. Apparently, they are supposed to be releasing a new album at some point this year, and that is something I will definitely be keeping an eye out for as this is polished, exciting, and just so damn enjoyable. For any fans of prog metal.

First of all, this is my first review on Progarchives, seeing as I am (relatively) very new to all of this. However, upon seeing on of my favorite discoveries of 2020 sitting at a meager 3 ratings, I thought it best to contribute to this discussion in a verbal manner.

This EP consists of rerecordings of three songs from the two full length AVIATIONS albums, the first two originating from their debut and the third from their latest full-length release to date. The production on the debut was quite muddy, an issue that these versions do not suffer from. Two Days did not need such an update, but this version is a drastically different take on that song so it's worthy of its place.

Nineties Nine Ties begins with one of the most rhythmically confusing riffs I've ever heard, grooving yet not following any sort of obvious pattern. To my ear this band is like a punkier TESSERACT with some added piano, and I love it. Great track, however it does not stick in my head. Somehow, this works for this song, it's like I get to reexperience it with every listen.

Outliers is the perfect Prog Metal song in my not-so-humble opinion. The original version is slightly different, particularly at the end where a spoken word sample has now been excluded. This version blew my mind when I first heard it and it is without a doubt a journey.

Two Days is a really nice song and this is a fantastic version. It works well in this laid back acoustic version. I wouldn't have guessed it was live if I hadn't seen the tracklist posted here.

The instrumental versions aren't necessary but they fill out the runtime if nothing else. If nothing else, listen to the song Outliers. This work earns 5 out of 5 stars for that song alone. For such a small group, their music is well written, very well produced, and accessible to fans of DREAM THEATER or similar bands. They have described themselves as "cozy metal," and I find that description quite apt.