AGE OF ELEGANCE

Age of Elegance is the debut studio album from US progressive metal act Lord Bane. The album was released in 1994 through the Danish Nordic Metal Label ( And Rising Sun in the US). A short lived label who also released albums from bands like Catharsis and The Last Things. Lord Bane would disband and disappear for a long time shortly after the release of Age of Elegance, but band leader, vocalist and guitarist Shawn Ames has revived the band under a different monicker. The band is now called Morpheous.

The music on Age of Elegance is what I would catagorize as old school progressive metal which means that some of the most obvious influences are bands like Fates Warning ( Awaken the Guardian, No Exit) and Queensrÿche ( Rage For Order, Operation: Mindcrime). I also think that I can hear a bit of Savatage here and there. There are lots of keyboard in the music but mostly as atmospheric chords and not melody runs. The music is of an epic nature. Very majestic. I read an interview with Shawn Ames back when the album was released, and his own description of his music was that it is epic metal. Shawn Ames melody lines is the focus of the songs and his very emotional and theatrical vocal style gives the music much of its identity. He uses both his low register as well as high pitched singing. There are a few guitar solos on the album but the songs are generally focused on the overall sound of the compositions and not individual performances.

The album has several powerful majestic progressive metal songs and I would mention Fawns, Born To Die, Like the Lion and Queen Ann as the most powerful. Moriah and If Broken Hearts Could Kill (You'd be Dead) are slow progressive metal tracks which emphasise epic atmosphere.

The musicianship is excellent. Great guitar playing from Shawn Ames and the bass and drums from Eric Yawnaway and Wes Bordelon are also solid and helps drive the music forward.

The production is a bit of a problem IMO. It´s too thin and the snare drum sound is way too dominant and strange sounding. I can live with the sound but it does drag my rating down a bit.

Age of Elegance is a unique progressive metal album. I think there are many interesting aspects that make the music stand out from the vast amount of generic progressive metal bands. There are excellent ideas and parts on this album, but my overall rating will be 3 stars as there are also things that I´m not too happy about. First and foremost the production. It is a BIG 3 star rating though and a recommendation that you check out Age of Elegance if you´re interested in listening to a progressive metal band with a unique sound.