INDEPENDENT HARMONY

I had high expectations for Division By Zero's second album. Their debut was an exceptionally strong progressive metal album with influences ranging from Opeth and Riverside to Faith No More and Evergrey. The only thing missing to make a masterpiece from it would be a little more maturity and more personal style.

Now, when it comes to that Independent Harmony is a failure. Instead of developing the elements that made them stand out above the pack, they removed them! Gone are the attractive Faith No More influences in the vocals, gone are most of the Gothic elements that made them challenge Evergrey at being the darkest power metal band. All that is left is a formulaic product that seems to come from a metal assembly line: featuring the required powerhouse sound, the expected gruff and emo vocals, the technical riff galore and rollercoaster tempos.

The songs are ok but there's little that makes them noteworthy, and a lot that makes them routine and commercial. So I have to agree entirely with Snobb before me. Good product but faceless, and at least one star less then the marvellous debut.