SHATTERED LINES

This Italian band is back again with their new album. I was very far from being impressed with their first offering and I did approach this album like a sheep approaches a tiger. But I was in for a positive surprise.

Atto IV still sounds like a Dream Theater rip off with some Symphony X, Pendragon and Porpucine Tree influences (yes, I did copy this line from my review of their first album). But the Dream Theater influences has been toned down a lot and some more neo-prog influences like Arena has been added. More melody, less metal riffs. But still not a single RPI references in sight though.

The album starts very promising with the two best songs of the album The Persistence Of Memories and Bad Dreams. Great melodic neo prog in the Arena mould. The album goes slightly downhill after these two songs and some Dream Theater influences starts to creep in loud & clear. This inbetween some really good melodic prog too. But some of the stuff here is too much Dream Theater copycat to amuse me. Guys, Dream Theater has not split up yet. Leave these riffs to them and do your own stuff. OK ?

Atto IV has really improved on this album and deserves full credit for this album. A couple of stronger songs would had made it into a truly great album. I rates it somewhere between a three and a four stars album.

3.5 stars