MANIPULATOR

Sometimes you decide to hear a band simply because you liked the cover of the CD or something like that. In this case I knew nothing about the band when I decided to give this one a shot. I like the name: The Fall Of Troy. Nice, isn´t it? Heavy prog, they say. It sounded ok to me, thinking of the heavy prog bands of the 70´s as maybe the main reference. Besides I saw the high ratings here on PA. Unfortunately when I put it on it was nothing that I expected. It caught me completely off guard. And its low rating is related to my taste only, not their musicianship, nor their prowess in doing what they like.

In its broad concept you can call this album progressive. It certainly has some unusual song structures and all, but I really don´t like it. it´s simply too technical and freakish for my liking. Lots of heavy guitars, tempo changes and screaming vocals. Sometimes they even deliver a more ´song´ oriented parts, like on the beginning of Quarter Past, quite bluesy. But I can´t stand the vocal style: sometimes high pitched, sometimes growling like in a death metal band. You can see this trio has the chops, the production is excellent and is awesome how they do not to get lost in all this frenzy. But the style is clearly not for the ones who loves symphonic prog or even ´traditional´ heavy prog like I do.

Definitely for the ones who enjoy something hardcore. I´ll pass this one up.