Fates Warning - Theories of Flight (2016)

I suppose I'm a little beyond concern as to whether or not Fates Warning will ever be a truly 'great' band again. Their 80s power metal streak will always remain a monumental component of my collection, and their subsequent shift into pure progressive metal/rock territory on records from Perfect Symmetry to Inside Out will forever stand as a finer example of stylistic evolution that would help launch about a thousand other bands into similar waters throughout the ensuing decades. These days, if they can simply write coherent tunes and avoid the slump of quality and creativity they suffered from about 1995-2000, then I suppose I'm content, and like Fates Warning X or Darkness in a Different Light, Theories of Flight is a disc that will keep them afloat for several years to come, even if it's not helping them reach any new shores.

This record is expansive and modern enough to escape feeling lazy or like a post-midlife crisis, and it's borne on a mix of the band's more tranquil, feely moments with the jarring, jammy metal grooves that almost all trace their roots back to Rush's "YYZ" and other bastions of prog rock aggression that it's purveyors don't seem likely to evade for fear that they'll lose the narrative. Bobby Jarzombek's drumming is a pleasure to listen to, even if this is far from one of his more intricate or experimental performances, he really keeps the momentum going throughout harder hitters like the opening "From the Rooftops" or "Like Stars Our Eyes Have Seen", but still maintains that mechanical/electronic vibe that his predecessor Mark Zonder made a staple of the modern Fates Warning sound. Joey Vera is also a standout on this record, with fat and fluid bass lines that would be fun to follow along with just the drums even if you didn't have Matheos' airier melodies or grooves splattered all over it. The riffs themselves keep really busy across the constantly shifting tempos, and there are generally at least two things going on at a time to draw the ear, though when it comes to the sheer riff power these are just not as memorable as stuff Jim has written in the past. But I will grant him that he keeps the stuff somewhat exploratory and unpredictable as in "The Ghosts of Home".

Ray Alder's own contribution here is flawless, but I have to admit that there were times I zoned out and forgot it was him even singing, as if the years have mutated his vocal chords just enough to rob his timbre of some of the character I identified with it when I was younger. That said, a lot of the tunes seem very carefully fit to his voice, and there's no question that it's all plotted in such a consummately professional way that die-hard fans of prog metal from the last 20 years are not going to find anything to really complain about. The problem I have is just that real lack of memorable quality to the songs...even after numerous spins through the disc I just wanted to break out Perfect Symmetry or Parallels...there is no "Through Different Eyes" or "We Only Say Goodbye" to be found on Theories, even if there is more ambition, technicality and variation inherent in the material that they've assembled for this. I think it's a decent effort, an exhibition of proficiency and competence and loyalty to a fault. There is nothing here I could honestly say that Fates does 'wrong', but it just isn't one I'm going to reach for when I need a fix of Alder-fronted mood music, and I'd really like to have a modern Fates disc on the level of the excellent Arch/Matheos debut.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - Darkness in a Different Light (2013)

With a 3D origami graphic that seems taken straight from some forgotten prog rock record of decades past, it becomes immediately apparent that the Fates Warning revival, after nearly a decade of studio absence, will not be yanking upon their early 80s trad/power metal roots, but instead dialing to a point later in that decade where they transformed into their more subtle, progressive phase which produced a streak of fine records in Perfect Symmetry, Parallels, and Inside Out, before wearing itself thin with the lazier, inexpressive, weaker songwriting that characterized the three later full-lengths which led up to the hiatus. Or at least, that is what I hoped when I was gazing upon the packaging of Darkness in a Different Light, and fortunately I wound up rewarded with what came across to me like an amalgamation of the mechanical nuance of Perfect Symmetry/Parallels with the cleaner, modernized production punch of Fates Warning X.

Yes, a truly throwback Fates Warning record is not and will likely never be in the cards, but with the advent of the Arch/Matheos collaboration that's no longer really a necessity. While that excellent debut, Sympathetic Resonance had a more contemporary appeal than The Specter Within and Awaken the Guardian, it was close enough in feel to satisfy the nostalgia, and potentially leave us two avenues with which to answer our cravings. What I really wanted out of Darkness in a Different Light was another Perfect Symmetry, a slightly dark, prescient and melodic piece with memorable songwriting that could endure for decades. This isn't nearly on that level, I'm afraid, but certainly exceeds the mediocrity that defined the group's 1997-2004 phase. The sole loss to the previous lineup, drummer Mark Zonder, has returned to his alma mater Warlord and produced a comeback of its own in The Holy Empire (in fact a better album than this); but here he is replaced with Bobby Jarzombek, a player with superior technical ability that could play on almost any recording under the sun. Not to discredit Zonder, whose simple and steady performance was a great match for Fates' aesthetic transition in the late 80s, but just the presence of Bobby alone hints at a more energized, exciting selection of tracks...

...which is, to an extent, an accurate depiction of Darkness in a Different Light. There is unquestionably a sense of revitalization and commitment to the material, perhaps spurred on by Matheos' success with the John Arch collaboration. Fates Warning seems hungry again, and though mechanically there is little here which seems a 'progression' beyond anything they released through the 90s, there is a greater focus on the core strengths of riffing, pacing and melody that kept them near the pinnacle of the niche back in their prime. The songs here will not so much haunt or impress anyone to the point that they'll be hummed on subway trains or in cubicles, but they achieve a median between the gentler emotional moments of their past balladry, and the stolid post-Rush grooves characteristic of Fates Warning X, Disconnected or Alder's other bands Engine and Redemption. Though Jarzombek's drumming is clear and away the most complex and harried component of the music, I like that they've brought back some fairly well developed chorus building in cuts like "One Thousand Fires" and "Into the Black". Though there are a lot of thicker 'boogie' grooves that dominate the harder end of the record, I like that several of the rhythm guitars had a tone and phrasing straight off Perfect Symmetry.

Alder's not exactly taxing himself, and he hasn't for many years now, but his presence certainly carries much of the material with a wealth of subtler dramatic shifts and smooth, sustained intonations (as in "Kneel and Obey"). The guy's not spitting out catchy line after line, but he's also not repeating himself ad nauseum with the boredom I've experienced on other albums, and he really works to contrast the start/stop nature of the grooves in pieces like "O Chloroform". Clean, feely, processed guitars are still pretty common, but there's an appreciable array of metallic riffing that spans from the later 80s material, when progressive metal in general felt more exotic, to the marginal nu- and groove- metal stuff that had started to infect the band in the 90s, but nothing feels cheap or redundant. The leads are definitely cut from a wilder, flashy hard rock cloth in tunes like "Into the Black", but they're not exactly memorable. I also have to say that I'm just not too impressed with the bass lines. Joey Vera is normally fantastic but they seem to subsumed by the rhythm guitars, even though his tone is crystal clear. As unusual as it seems, Alder and Jarzombek are the stars here; most of the guitars serve only as a seat for the vocalizations, and not a lot are interesting independently.

It wouldn't be possible for me to listen through this without consciously comparing it to the latest works of the two other American prog metal bigwigs, and I think it shares that same earnest vivacity for steering the band back to a point at which it truly mattered. Dream Theater might have pulled it off a little better on their eponymous disc, but I enjoyed it more than the most recent by Queensrÿche proper. And yet there's still a sense of a band working hard to where it needs to be, but not entirely succeeding. Darkness in a Different Light is engaging enough where it counts, when you're actually sitting there with the music in your speakers or headphones, but it's very difficult to imagine caring about it a month from now, much less when you're in the mood for one of their classics. If I compare this to any of their first 6-7 albums, whether in the Arch or Alder camp, it falls short in terms of songwriting and overall aesthetic quality. Clearly the time off has aged the band well, and I don't mean to be too down on this, it's a solid record; but I do hope this can prove the groundwork for a record like Perfect Symmetry where most of the songs resonate well beyond their years, despite being well ahead of their original birth date.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - Fates Warning X (2004)

Fates Warning X, i.e. FWX was the 10th and assumedly 'final' album from Fates Warning, after which drummer Mark Zonder decided to part ways with the band. This was very much a wise decision, as the previous two albums were a trainwreck compared to the band's older material and the homefires had long since burnt to their embers. As is so often the case in the fluctuating world of metal music, the band have since reunited for some gigs, and Ray Alder has stated that there was material for another album at some point, but for our purposes, FWX was the end of Fates Warning's output during the 'Oughts, and a good thing, that.

But the blame should not be placed squarely on the shoulders of this work, because to be fair, it's a better record than Disconnected in every way, and light years ahead of A Pleasant Shade of Gray. The band were still in their electronic phase, and FWX is a sleek, modern affair, the best of the Alder/Zonder/Matheos/Vera configuration, loaded with nuance and subtlety. The one real downside to the album is that it simply lacks the truly memorable impact of the many classics in the band's catalog. There is no "Through Different Eyes", "Anarchy Divine", "We Only Say Goodbye" or any other manner of standout track which will rattle about your skull until you let it escape through a bullet hole. It's decent enough for a visit, if you truly care for the latter half of the band's career, but even then...you probably won't want to remain for long.

The sounds of crickets herald the throbbing pulse of "Left Here", with a casual interplay between distorted riffing and acoustics up until its chorus breakdown, where the band revisit a decadent electric beat like "Something from Nothing" on the previous album. The guitar grooves here are forgettable individually, and Vera's bass does little more than plop along like a heartbeat. The song works its way towards a supposed payoff, but unfortunately this is a rather underwhelming chorus segment with Alder repeating himself. "Simple Human" is slightly better, kind of a fixed point between big Filter/Deftones groove guitars and NIN electro breakdowns, with a solid bass line woven below the mire. "River Wide Ocean Deep" is moody and subtly haunting, as the acoustics summon forth a droning distorted guitar and some female wailing, and the pace continues to escalate into another Alder-driven rock segment. Despite the cliche title, "Another Perfect Day" is actually not so bad, a rambling melodic acoustic prog-folk with some sections in which the guitars groove out, but again more of a rock thing. "Heal Me" is another of those long, lamenting tracks like the classic "At Fate's Hands", the exception being that the pick-me-up rock rhythms here sound more like generic modern radio nu-metal tripe than anything of real substance.

The album's latter half commences with the instrumental "Sequence #7", all throbbing bass, sparkling clean guitars and electrode pulses that usher in the big rhythm of "Crawl", which, while simmering in the same modern groove metal that has often spoiled their 21st century efforts, at least maintains a momentum that might have you slowly bobbing your head. "A Handful of Doubt" is another softy, but if you enjoyed the band's balladry on Perfect Symmetry, Parallels, or Inside Out, there's not much to complain about. "Stranger (With a Familiar Face)" does break into a half-assed Zeppelin/Hendrix rock and roll, which picks up into an even more uptempo segment, but otherwise its tribal pandering is lost upon me, and the drippy, percussive clean guitars and piano of "Wish" build a bridge and simply fail to properly plunge from it.

Production-wise, the album is loud and stunning, with each subtle atmospheric element resonant in the mix. It sounds so great that you almost forget that the songs themselves are not. If only they were to record another album like No Exit at this level of studio savvy! Alas, that's unlikely to happen. But I must give credit that Fates Warning X at least does not leave a bitter, stale taste in my mouth like its two closest siblings, and if you favor heavy progressive rock with a mainstream friendly face, you can probably do worse.

Highlights: River Wide Ocean Deep, Another Perfect Day, Crawl

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (I never asked for this)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - Disconnected (2000)

There is something so safe and stagnant about all of Fates Warning's work beyond the 80s that I often wonder just where the magic went. Clearly, the band was once one for intricate melodies, powerful vocals and captivating lyrics and subject matter, but Fates Warning 2K (which started arguably with the abysmal 1997 album A Pleasant Shade of Gray) is a modernized, forgettable creature that no longer hangs at the edge of brilliance, but languors in confusion and mediocrity. Disconnected is the band's 9th album, and though the cover image makes for an amusing portrait, much of the music is quite uninspired, reduced to plodding, groove metal rhythms, and the lyrics have grown so vague that they seem the sort that any bland radio pop band would write, the lowest common denominator of progressive rock or metal. Even with all these issues, though, Disconnected is a superior beast to A Pleasant Shade of Gray, for at least a handful of decent riffs exist here.

Like its predecessor, Disconnected is a conceptual piece. It's not some head-trip, just another album about life and society, so most should be able to relate to it. What is interesting is that the band refrains some of the material on the album, almost as if it were once cycle that begins and ends in largely the same, dull pallor. This is manifested by the two parts of "Disconnected" which wrap the album like a soggy turkey sandwich. The first barely exceeds a minute's length, but the closing track is over six, and they involve samples, subtle washes of piano, and a similar use of electronic pulses and percussion as the synths swell alongside the central, solitary electric guitar bend. The extended track is the better of these, simply for its ability to take a breath and get the listener more deeply involved in its structure, which is the most unique thing on the album.

Between these poles are the other five tracks of the album, which all feature vocals and make up the 'meat' of the concept, and herein lie most of the weaknesses. "One" is a groovy rock track with an extremely dull focal riff, which leads me to believe some influence might have crossed over to Fates Warning from Alder's other project Engine (who are, sadly, better than this). The riffing is totally pedestrian here, and no amount of Zonder's percussive depth can repair this, not even Alder as he hits a Chris Cornell-like howl at about 2:45. "So" begins with some stark electronics that are actually quite cool, if brief, before a steady, pumping guitar rhythm (complete with gimmick squeal) arrives to herald in a mire of bluesy boredom, not necessarily due to Alder's soulful tones, but the fact that there is simply NO music of value to accompany them. Seriously, the riffs here wouldn't be suitable for a Puddle of Mudd track, so why bother? "Pieces of Me" is not much better, as its basically a techno metal track with riffing worse than some of KMFDM's middling rhythms, and the big Engine-groove of the chorus is awful, as Alder intones the title repeatedly.

The two longer tracks "Something from Nothing" and "Still Remains" are far from perfect, but seem like a major improvement over the rest of the album. The former transforms from a moody ambient clime into an electro sequence of rumbling synthesizers and distorted drum beat, later to evolve into a Tool-like guitar rhythm, and some of the more convincing vocals on the album. It's not great, and in fact there is almost no intricacy to the writing whatsoever, but as a whole it at least takes you somewhere you might wish to travel. "Still Remains" is over 16 minutes in length, so of anything on the album, it bears the brunt of the responsibility to involve the listener. I did enjoy the opening moments, with acoustics that flowed like water, drifting, distorted vocals, and some nice somber synth lines that build the mood, and after that it goes outright prog, with keyboards slicing through the jamming rhythms and a sense of alien expression that had me wanting to break out my Chick Corea and Yes records. But like so many parts of the song, it arrives and departs in short order, attempting to reign one in with its constantly shifting landscape, and the downside to this is the amount of pretty dull groove metal rhythms that populate it. Despite its flaws, it remains one of the best songs here, and the closing moments do feature some soaring guitar lines.

The title is perhaps so very accurate as to where the band were at musically, for it seems some tether to their glory days has clearly been severed to the point of no return. Fates Warning still have a few thrills tucked away into the 51+ minutes of Disconnected, and I felt no immediate impulse to chuck the CD out the window to the nearest landfill as I did with the last album, but in even if I put on my rose-tinted goggles and think of this as a pleasant experiment, it's still no more than a mundane footnote to a band that once reigned over the filthy state of Connecticut (never met someone from that state who did not screw me over in some way, so pardon my terminal case of state-ism).

Highlights: Disconnected (Part II), Something from Nothing, Still Remains

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10] (when the voice is gone)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - Still Life (1998)

Fates Warning is one of the rare US staple metal bands that I sadly never got the opportunity to see in the live setting, and so hearing a live album or watching a video of a performance was never out of the question for me. To be fair, the band did not try to exploit this on their fans, and waited a good 8 albums before issuing this Still Life double-live effort. It was recorded in Germany, in April of 1998, and it sounds fairly tight, with a lot of crowd interaction before and after the songs, but a sound that likely sounds just like the band before they're mixed on a studio album. That being said, you will need a serious streak of masochism to enjoy the actual contents of Still Life...

And this is due to the unfortunate decision to perform the ENTIRETY of the miserable concept album A Pleasant Shade of Gray for the first disc. Yes, because it wasn't painful enough to listen through the first time, you fair concertgoers are now going to sit through nearly an hour of this tripe, which sounds to me as if the band was as bored playing it as I am listening. For fuck's sake, the band could have just played the entirety of Perfect Symmetry or Parallels and been better off, but instead, a dazed stupor. I have listened intently through this material in the hopes that these songs might transfer better to the live arena, and to be fair I like the bass better on this recording. The songs seem to have a minor infusion of energy, but too little to really register on my snore-o-meter. At the very least, this could have been demoted to the 2nd disc in the live package, because the other one blows it to smithereens.

Yes. Suddenly, disc two breathes life into the experience. But it's not just a 'who's who' of your favorite Fates Warning tracks. It actually begins with the 20+ minutes of "The Ivory Gate of Dreams" from the No Exit album. It's a risky move, but it does pay off, because even this epic is packed with energy when compared to the stolid wasteland that is A Pleasant Shade of Gray. The track feels a little more messy than its studio counterpart, in particular Alder's vocals, but it's still impressive and I'd argue that the live version has a lot more vibrancy. Now nearly 80 minutes into the experience, Fates Warning decides to settle into some of their shorter fare. Though I wouldn't call "The Eleventh Hour" short, it's 8+ minutes and the longest track on Parallels, but at least you don't have to get up for a pee and soda in the middle. And it sounds great, as does the following "Point of View", sticking to the same album and offering some much needed respite from the headier, moodier material to come before it.

The band then cycles through "Monument" from the Inside Out album, and "At Fate's Hands" from Perfect Symmetry before the absolute highlight of the whole package: "Prelude to Ruin" from Awaken the Guardian is included! It's a little strange to hear Alder singing it, but he still does a worthy interpretation of John Arch and this really makes me want to hear an entire album written in the band's old school style, fronted by the new singer. If only.... The final track here is "We Only Say Goodbye", which I suppose is only too obvious for a set closer. It's a great song, and no different in the live setting. If you've got the Japanese version of this release, you will also get a decent studio cover of the Scorpions' "In Trance", but it's a little out of place with the live material.

There are so many great tracks Fates Warning have included to make a two-disc live set worth owning, but there is no accounting for taste I guess. Though the second half is exponentially superior to the dull, rambling 'still life' of A Pleasant Shade of Gray, it's not enough to blot that from existence, and not enough to justify a purchase of this at full price. You can't tell me that the tasteful European fans (who LOVE old metal) would have not have appreciated a few more tracks from the first three albums. I mean, come on. "Kyrie Ellison"? "Pirates of the Underground"? The band would have been laid many times over by a representative of every country in the EU (their choice of male or female) had they incorporated such classics. Then again, it is possible they did, and just didn't include them here on the product itself. And that, my friends, is an unacceptable mistake in judgment! Nyar!

Highlights: DISC TWO

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10] (nothing's easy anymore)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - Chasing Time (1995)

One might draw an assumption that the fans of Fates Warning are smart, hard working individuals who have the gall to actually purchase the band's full-length albums. So it doesn't really make sense for Metal Blade to release a compilation album featuring 14 tracks, 11 of which are previous released and merely reprinted here, and the remaining 3 simple alterations or remixes. This logic might hold up if we lived in a sensible world, where justice and equity were truths above all else. But in the world we've got, I am honestly surprised it took seven full-length albums before something like Chasing Time reared its ugly head. No, not that I have any problem with a purplish spiral and circular presentation of a basic font (and hell, this cover art is comparable if not superior to Inside Out), but unless you're some douche who honestly gets into bands through 'greatest hits' collections (i.e. a sucker), what is really the point?

Now, after seven albums, one might make another assumption: that Fates Warning had a lot of unreleased material lying about on the cutting room floor, perhaps even a few tracks from each of their recording sessions, maybe even some cover songs. But apparently, the band's vision was just too clear...they were too efficient, and all of their songs made the final cut (or they're too shy to share them with us). So we only end up with a few things here that feel like a hoax. "At Fate's Finger" is a reversion of "At Fate's Hands" from Perfect Symmetry, a karaoke version that replaced the vocal segments with jammin' electric fusion solos. Otherwise, it's the same old song. There is a remix of "We Only Say Goodbye", in which the vocals are given a little more slice than they possess on the Parallels album, with the backups cranked. I can't speak for liking one more than the other, as the vocals on this do appeal to me. "Circles" is the only track that could be considered unique to this release...well, aside from the fact that several of its riffs were cannibalized for songs on Inside Out, and judging from the lukewarm vocal performance I can see why this did not end up on an actual studio album.

The remainder of Chasing Time is culled from the albums, and we can at least give Fates Warning and Metal Blade some credit that they did not ignore the first three. They're scattered about the album, in no particular order. Night on Bröcken is represented with "Damnation", The Spectre Within with "The Apparition", and Awaken the Guardian with "Guardian" and "Prelude to Ruin". These are all stable choices, among the better songs on those albums, though it might have been more tactical to include more than one track from The Spectre Within, the band's best album and frankly one of the best US metal albums of its day. But emphasis here was probably on the later progressive style, which matches up better with the unreleased material. "Silent Cries" and "Quietus" (from "The Ivory Gate of Dreams") are the No Exit entries, but only "Through Different Eyes", the first single from Perfect Symmetry, and the altered "At Fate's Hands" are here to represent that album. This is also a shame, because Perfect Symmetry is the best of their more progressive albums. Nevertheless, the more recent Parallels is granted FOUR tracks: "Eye to Eye", "The Eleventh Hour", "Point of View", and the remix of "We Only Say Goodbye" that I mentioned before. Inside Out only gets one entry, "Monument", but the album had just come out the year before, so it was probably 'wise'.

Then again, that would imply that anything about this release involved some thought process beyond the basic desire for money. "Hey guys, got anything new for us? We're releasing some of your songs that we've already released, earnings are up." "Hmmm. No. Nothing new. But we can fuck with a couple tracks we've already...oh, and there's that song 'Circles' which we gutted for better songs on the last album." "SCORE!"

I guess I've done a poor job of hiding my animosity for this compilation (and many like it), so let me close by saying that the disc could serve many plausible uses outside of being listened to. You could set a drink on it, though actual coasters are a lot less expensive. You could hang it from your car mirror facing outward, to blind other drivers and cause accidents. That's always fun. You could sharpen the edges and use it as a throwing death disc like they did in that I Come in Peace movie. You could use it to do your makeup! I wound up snorting blow off the thing, which is pretty useful, since leaning over to the coffee table in the living room was a strain on my back.

Highlights: Hey, no double dipping!

Verdict: Epic Fail [1.5/10] (and I knew I was alone)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray (1997)

A Pleasant Shade of Gray is the sort of album I had always expected Fates Warning to write and release, a full-bodied concept album which took a similar approach to their 20+ minute track "The Ivory Gate of Dreams" from 1988's No Exit. Progressive metal bands have always excelled at such efforts, much like their rock forebears, and I can think fondly back to the first time I heard something like Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Operation Mindcrime or Nothingface, and was blown away by not only the depth of the material but the great music included with it. What I did not expect is that when it came time for Fates Warning to put their own spin on this niche, they would fall so flat.

The album is called A Pleasant Shade of Gray, and from its title alone you can gather that it will dabble in themes of melancholy, the mundane subtleties that fill all our days on Earth in this industrial, inspiration-starved Western civilization. But it's not the theme that really stumbles here, it is the lethargic songwriting and the failure to evoke even the most average of memorable melodies that the band have always excelled in. It's like a soundtrack to a movie you don't want to see; a 'gray' mist that descends upon the listener to most annoying semblance of ennui. It's like one of those lectures at university which had you so bored that you couldn't stop looking at the clock, wondering what the campus cafeteria would be serving in the evening and whether you had even the faintest chance of getting laid. Seriously, your thoughts could wander nearly any place and arrive at something more interesting than what has manifested on this disc.

And it's not due to any shift in tone or style by the band. No, this music is not a far cry from anything they've previously recorded. It's simply stretched out so painfully that it inhabits a void where all the band's good ideas seem long since dead. There are 12 tracks here, each titled in Roman numerals, which are aesthetically about as interesting as the music they represent. Even when the band breaks out into the more jamming segments of the album, like "Part III" or "Part VII", there is no interesting riff to be found, no spark of life. For example, take the dull central riff of "III" with its listless harmonic...no positive rhythm will ever emerge from it, it simply does its time before a mediocre groove develops under the mediocre vocal hook. It's like some guy bored in his jam room repeating the same useless riff just to hear himself think, while the neighboring bands listen on with apathy at the pathetic rambling tone.

The heavy use of electronics, the most the band had included by this point, doesn't exactly cripple the core riffing, but it is likewise weak, summoning up nothing but a desire to repeatedly mash the 'track forward' button on your CD player. There are pianos here, and there are acoustics, both of which are also leeched of all potential captivation through the unfortunate selections in notation. Try as hard as I might, I can find NO silver lining in this cloud. It's impossible to pick out a highlight...parts "XI" and "XII" seem like an attempt to re-establish some sort of mirror to the band's better days, but even these feel like a gaggle of depressed monkeys picking up instruments in an empty emulation of Connecticut's storied metal gods. The lyrics are dry and cliched, like a caricature of the most banal material of the past three records.

I don't know what kind of vampire crawled into the Fates Warning rehearsal space and sucked out every fiber of being and talent from the band during the songwriting process for this album, but it's seriously the progressive metal equivalent to Muzak. Only Muzak is often more memorable than the 54 minutes of wasted space and time that this album represents. It's been 13 years now, and while the band has not created anything of significance in its wake, we should all be grateful that they have not attempt to further plum these empty, uninspired depths. I came back to this album thinking there might be something I missed the last few times I suffered its endless, laconic framework, but came out of the experience trailing nothing but the eyes of the abyss at my back, laughing as I went.

Highlights: if you managed to listen through this album without a nervous breakdown, a fit of convulsive psychosis, or suicidal confrontation, congratulations, you are one hard mother fucker. The Armed Forces could use a few good men like you.

Verdict: Fail [3/10] (let nothing bleed into nothing)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - Inside Out (1994)

Though the lazy, minimal cover art for Fates Warning's 7th album certainly gave me no immediate grounds for anticipation, its contents are thankfully not so vapid. Arriving at a time when progressive metal was now firmly in the domain of the huge selling, Dream Theater (who by this point had released Images and Words and begun their conquest of almost every Guitar World subscriber and Queensrÿche expatriate fan looking for a new, improved thrill), the album seems extremely tame. But 5-6 minutes of jamming and showboating musical proficiency was never the forte of the established Connecticut band. Unlike their peers and friends in Dream Theater, they were motivated only by the song itself and not the grandstanding.

Continuing the band's progressive tendencies, it was however a surprise that Inside Out remains so close in style and tone to its predecessors Parallels and Perfect Symmetry. They had found their niche, and would reside comfortably within for the remainder of their career (thus far, at any rate). This effort does contain its fair share of rather saccharine ballads, but the metal moments are arguably more prominent and aggressive than on the predecessor, so it builds a fair balance that should sate anyone into the band's work from 1989 on. As far as the quality, I do feel this is somewhat lacking. Inside Out is simply never the album I turn to when I need my fix of modern Fates. Even in its better moments, the material is just not as standout as anything the band had ever done before. Considering the barren landscape of non-extreme metal in the mid 90s, it was satisfying for only a short time. But, hell, at least it was better than anything the slumping Queensrÿche had released in the entire decade.

The disc begins with "Outside Looking In", which involves sad, sailing melodies and a similar rhythmic mechanism to the verse of the previous album's opener. It's a solid track which offers enough variety in the drumming and riffs to please, but it doesn't help that it is immediately eclipsed by the superior "Pale Fire", which is another of those 'single' worthy tracks very similar to "Through Different Eyes" from Perfect Symmetry. Lyrically, "Pale Fire" is quite a success, for the chorus evokes a pretty powerful image that haunts long beyond the closure of the music:

Pale fire, dry land getting drier
nothing can grow in the ashes of desire
Pale fire, burned on the desire
no one can grow, with nothing to inspire

Pretty mesmerizing words, those, and maybe an unintentional soliloquy for the band's direction in the 90s decade. "The Strand" creates an almost folkish platitude through in its somber, bluesy rock verse, but I liked the bouncing bass rhythm and it builds to another great chorus part, which simply rages into existence like many of the better moments of Perfect Symmetry. "Shelter Me" feels very similar to "Pale Fire" or "Through Different Eyes", but it lacks the staying power of those tracks and the title and chorus feel perhaps a little too accessible, almost as if being written by Diane Warren for some R&B or soft rock track. The music is pleasing enough, but quickly forgotten. And unfortunately this is followed by "Island in the Stream", a big rock ballad that has much in common with "The Road Goes On Forever" from Parallels. Immersive and pretty for its acoustics and pianos and atmosphere, but I could never summon the desire to ever seek it out individually.

"Down the Wire" gets by on the groove it develops through the verse, though the chorus reminds me of a more rocked out spin on "We Only Say Goodbye", so perhaps a bit of unconscious self-cannibalism. "Face the Fear" begins with a flow of shining, teary melodies that transform into a pretty complex pattern beneath the verse, with acoustic cleans swelling at the top end and a clockwork melody hanging under Alder's vocals. The chorus is likewise interesting, Zonder playing rattlesnake while the sprightly clean guitar flush like flower petals escaping their stalks. "Inward Bound" is a brief, bluesy atmospheric instrumental which might feel more at home on an early Eric Johnson record, but here does very little even as a segue from its busy siblings. "Monument" is the best track on the latter half of the album, cautiously escalating into an insanely catchy hook after 2:00 which rekindles the factory-like atmosphere of Perfect Symmetry. "Afterglow" is a nice lead-out to the album, a brooding acoustic piece laden in slim electric melodies and an eerie narrative, interspersed with happier bits and a quiet momentum.

Inside Out is hardly void of ideas, but it definitely has a few tracks which feel redundant to the prior efforts, without exceeding that work. As such, it's simply not that impressive in the long term, and I rarely have the patience or time to listen through the whole album, heading straight for its better moments and ignoring the chaff remainder. It's solid, but not inspiring. However, if we were to compare this to the sullen ennui that would follow, it feels almost a masterpiece in comparison.

Highlights: Pale Fire, The Strand, Monument, Afterglow

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (where the sea and sky collide)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - Parallels (1991)

For the past few albums, Fates Warning had been making pretty bold and large steps in their music, from the initial transformation into a power/thrash hybrid with Ray Alder's debut No Exit, to the forward thinking direction of Perfect Symmetry. Parallels, the band's 6th album, is on a level playing field with it predecessor, with much the same style, and much the same balance of tranquil, dreamy acoustic segues and metal-lite subtleties. This is also probably the 'friendliest' of the band's albums, as in, you could probably play this record for your mother and she'd get something out of it (if your mom got something out of No Exit, well, you were one lucky tyke). Almost every track here was primed for radio play, and the production is polished up from Perfect Symmetry.

But is it too clean? Is this the point at which Fates Warning had crossed the apex of their career and begin a slalom down the far side? In my opinion, yes. As professional as this effort is, it's a double edged sword. The music feels extremely constrained, so that even its most powerful, melodic moments feel like a crack team of editors and analysts are pouring them over, to hew them down to only the most polished of stones. I did enjoy Parallels, in fact I find several of the tracks unforgettable, but it lacks a little of the dark factory feel of Perfect Symmetry, and feels like an attempt to bridge over into the softer terrain of some of prog. rock's most accessible acts, like the 80s-90s efforts of Rush, or Yes, Genesis or Marillion without losing the band's central identity. It's good stuff, but I really need to be in the mood to hear it, whereas many of the band's prior albums would PUT ME in the mood, regardless of where and when I was, if that makes any sense.

"Leave the Past Behind" is a very Rush-like piece, with sparkling acoustics that slowly build into a steady, captivating bass and the mechanical guitar chords of the prior album. The chorus is fairly obvious, but certainly a winner if you are a fan of Perfect Symmetry or Queensryche's smash hit Empire. It's an effective opening track, curt and comfortable, but no surprises lurk around any corner. "Life in Still Water" seems anything but still, as the volley of lush chords and Zonder's electronic drum fills splash about the surface. The latter half of the verse is great, for the ringing guitars that sear over the shaking bass, and it builds to an appropriate chorus climax. "Eye to Eye" forges a resonant intro with more of the brazen acoustics, and a calm but hooky metal lite rhythm ensues, a precursor to the tranquil lament of the verse. Again, the chorus feels predictable and subdued, and there is simply nothing else here of note except a very safe lead. "The Eleventh Hour" is the longest track on the album, and arguably the most interesting. The curtains part for a lurid dreamscape of somber, shining cleans and effects, while Alder embarks on a journey of escalating isolation to just before the 3:00 mark, where the hard chords arrive and herald an epic stream of melody, pure payoff for the listener's patience. But the best moment of the song is beyond 6:00, with an excellent guitar pattern that plays off the central rhythm.

Somewhere along the way
We exchanged our dreams for selfish pride
There was a common goal
But somehow that vision has died

"Point of View" feels like Geoff Tate and company sent an Operation: Mindcrime outtake to Fates Warning to see what they could do with it, a familiar pattern with the melodic, urgent chords over the potent, but understated rock beat. It's a decent tune, and in particular I enjoy Alder's performance in the chorus, an edgy banshee keening its message through a still night. "We Only Say Goodbye" is hands down the most memorable track of Parallels, and it's almost embarassing to admit, because this is the kind of track that should have seen a Shania Twain level of airplay. It's super calming and catchy, and though it's heavier than, say "Silent Lucidity", it seems a crime that this very track did not push the Connecticut veterans to some sort of massive US radio presence. I can almost picture it, 15-20 years down the line, all the Fates Warning fans being sick to death of hearing it on VH1 and every classic rock radio station in their region. Alas, thankfully it maintains its beautiful melodic abandon, and it may just be the band's best song in the past two decades...

"Don't Follow Me" puts us back on the path to the band's previous album, with a huge, forward melody recalling "Through Different Eyes" or "Static Acts", parting for another of the band's safe, moody verses before a decent chorus and great, spry lead guitar. "The Road Goes on Forever" is like a quiet afternoon at the local lake, sitting half in the shade of the trees by the beach while you shove aside that newspaper you were going to read, to simply soak in the idylls of your location. It's all clean, with Zonder emulating the water's surface through his percussion. Though I find the track sufficiently captivating while I listen to it, for some reason it doesn't resonate with me beyond the album, and doesn't have anything quite like the hooks of "We Only Say Goodbye".

It's quite telling that Parallels, while being the worst of the Fates Warning albums to its date of release, was still a high quality recording with a lot of good hooks in its gills. The songs are just as carefully crafted as you'll find on any album in the band's backlog, and indeed it's the type you could put on for the full 45 minutes while reading, napping or working on that college project. If you were a fan of the progressive rock of the 80s and 90s (only dabbling in metal), this album may very well have been your gateway into the band. I certainly was not as immersed here as by their previous work, and to this day I still long for the fantastic, dark scenery of the John Arch years, but Parallels was more than acceptable for a band exploring their options.

Highlights: Life In Still Water, The Eleventh Hour, We Only Say Goodbye, Don't Follow Me

Verdict: Win [8/10] (through the cracks in the wall)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - Perfect Symmetry (1989)

A new logo. A photo as cover art. A sleek, rigid industrial aesthetic to both of them.

Something had shifted in the Fates Warning camp, and though the band had desired to change their name following the departure of John Arch in '87, Metal Blade urged them to keep it. This wasn't such a big deal for 1998's No Exit, which, while debuting a new frontman and injecting an appreciable fraction of thrash metal into their equation, still sounded largely like the same band. As for their 5th album, Perfect Symmetry, you will notice only vague similarities even to its direct predecessor, and these manifest primarily in the softer side of that album, ala the acoustic segments of "In a Word" or "The Ivory Gate of Dreams".

What is even further confounding is that the band were making all these changes while their success continue to climb among metal fans. I certainly don't have the stats to back myself up here, but Perfect Symmetry was possibly their most popular album, or at least the one most of their new fans were first exposed to, thanks to the decent video play of "Through Different Eyes" and increased word of mouth, and probably the massive success of Queensrÿche's masterpiece Operation: Mindcrime the year prior, which had brought many into this fold (and to their next stop, Dream Theater). This could all be saddening, were Perfect Symmetry not a pretty fascinating album in its own right. Sure, this sees the nearly complete castration of the band's power/thrash boner of previous years, but the metal remains, and it's unique. There is a mechanical aesthetic to the album which gives it a conceptual polish, and this can at least be partially attributed to the unique drumming of Mark Zonder (ex-Warlord), who replaces Steve Zimmerman here with a simple stick-weaving that that derives as much from Neil Peart and fusion artists as it does from his metal background.

"Part of the Machine" serves as an elegant christening to the album's industrial prog-lite aesthetics, in not only the glaring song title but the very unique, brooding rhythms which harry the melodies into the chugging, assembly line guitars in the verse. Alder is more tortured here, but still retains the ability to fly off the handle at a second's notice. The tempo shifts subtly here or there, the bass plucking through the factory atmosphere and no, you haven't heard something quite like this before. It was easy to see the appeal of "Through Different Eyes" as the single, for the bluesy, morose intro makes a great catalyst for an 80s rock song, and the track's central melody is a brush of subtle majesty without derailing the album's bleak, pensive candor. It would be difficult to deny the accessible and catchy, if tight-reigned chorus, in an era where such things were packing stadiums full of hard rock fans with millions of dollars to lavish upon their idols.

And staring into ageless eyes
that shared secrets too dark for light
we're searching for old bonds in places
that lie forever out of sight

"Static Acts" is a nice slice of melodic exercise, which descends into a brooding acoustic verse before the bridge just hammers you in Alder's silver-lined, open throat and an amazing guitar rhythm. It's quite the rush, channeling a small level of the band's ferocity from the previous, and this is welcome. "A World Apart" is tranquil but dark, the context of generational and ethnic gaps explored with a haunting resonance, picking up aggression only in the seconds before the lead breaks over a mechanical rhythm guitar. "At Fate's Hands" is perhaps one of the more ambitious works here, nearly 8 minutes long: an orchestrated ballad with pianos and strings that slowly gains ground as the band steps into ponderous, slower paced rock and then a wonderful, if downcast sequence after 3:00 where synths ring out over a slow but steady dagger of antagonistic jamming and Zonder's fancy rhythm keeping. It's like a modern day "Moby Dick" meets "Kashmir", if performed by robotic factory workers.

"The Arena" drops another into the album's metal quota, a mesmerizing stream of harmony, gorgeous bass lines and Alder's screaming down of the world, from the lofty smokestacks and skyscrapers to the streets upon which he walks. One of the best tracks here, and an fine example of how this band once mastered nearly everything it touched. "Chasing Time" was another fan favorite, sort of a "Silent Lucidity" for Fates Warning, a tapestry of sadness, this time not embarking into metal territory whatsoever. It's catchy, but my least favorite track on the entire album. "Nothing Left to Say" starts out with a jarring rhythm from the school of "YYZ", spinning fusion leads into its concrete foundation before it too parts for acoustic tranquility. However, I will point out that the entire segment beginning at 4:00 is breathtaking, imbued with true emotional power, like a forgotten king clearing the cobwebs from his thrown and taking up his crown again.

Perfect Symmetry might not be as technically astounding as some might desire from their progressive metal, and in truth, bands like Watchtower, Coroner and Deathrow all released albums of staggering proficiency and composition in 1989 which leave it far behind in the dust. Still, it's got a distinction about it, a charm that is difficult to resist, and it remains easily the best album of the 'latter day Fates' to this day. For though they might try, Parallels and Inside Out could simply not match its bounty of melodies and desperation, and anything beyond that is hardly worth talking about.

Highlights: Static Acts, At Fate's Hands, The Arena, Nothing Left to Say

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (whatever stains the page)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - No Exit (1988)

We could lament the loss of our beloved John Arch, or the fanciful forays of Fates Warning into and beyond the realm of imagination, but we simply could not fight the future, and some credit must be given to the band for choosing an excellent replacement in Ray Alder. On the surface, he's another shrieker without much of a difference, and with No Exit, he gives his most out of control effort, which truly coincides with the music. This album is the big 'transition' between the fantasy speed and power metal of the first three efforts, and the more mechanical, prog-metal lite that would follow through the 90s. But you wouldn't know that from the starting gate, because this one opens with a serious BANG...

And that cannon is "Anarchy Divine", the first single and video for the album, which promptly tears your fucking face off after the bizarre vocal/acoustic intro "No Exit" with electrics fizzing off into the background. Perhaps the heaviest track of Fates Warning's career, "Anarchy Divine" opens with a deep, punishing rhythm that accumulates scintillating melodies until the first, brilliant lead break before the minute mark, and then comes the setup for the verse...a steady thrash riff that should have your fists flying into your neighbors face, or there is simply no justice in the world. Alder returns over this verse, like an irate banshee with something to prove, and lyrics of far more...well, relevance than we're used to from this band. John who? The leads continue to impress here (Matheos and his partners have the fortunate tendency to almost never throw a bum lead into a song). This track is a bold and bright step for the band, and immediately solicited a forgiveness for the shift in singers.

"Silent Cries" enters with yet another barrage of guitars, but quickly transforms into an uptempo bass line sprinkle in acoustics and precise, flowing thrash rhythms while Alder really shows you his range, a roller coaster of mid-octave honesty and heavenly shrieking that could probably effectively communicate with a bird of prey. Personally I just love how the choppy tech-thrash rhythm winds below his siren calling. "In a Word" stretches further into ballad-hood, but Alder's 'arching' melodies cast their shadows well into the surge of chords, which in turn herald some of his most penetrating vocals on the entire album. A balance of subtlety and intensity, like the Fates in a drunken game over some poor sod's life-thread. "Shades of Heavenly Death" marks the last of the regular length tracks on the album, a brooding crusher with more piercing cries that explores interesting territory, with a huge doom riff popping up later in the track before a tranquil, haunting acoustic sequence.

Fates Warning took a risk with the rest of this album, but one that largely paid off. "The Ivory Gate of Dreams" is a nearly 22-minute track comprised of 8 'movements', a symphony of weighted acoustic clemency and powerful showstopping metal riffs that is almost entirely engrossing. In particular, I am quite fond of the "Daylight Dreamers" metal sequence with its frightening, shrill vocal patterns, and ditto for "Ivory Tower". "Acquiescence" sends us off to the outro with a wild, struggling abandon and more of Alder's stratospheric presence. As a single, epic length track, "The Ivory Gate of Dreams" is more hit than miss, though it does seem to follow the tedious pattern of acoustic to metal to acoustic to metal which does effect some predictability on the listener (bands like Dream Theater and Edge of Sanity would unfortunately continue this trend, to a degree).

No Exit is good. No, great, but it does have a few points which mark it as less remarkable than its predecessors. For one, I don't exactly love the production here, but it's not a far cry from Awaken the Guardian. It's simply a matter of the band using crunchier low end guitar rhythms, which balanced with the ripping leads almost lend too much power to Alder's tongue in the mix. As for the songs, most are rock solid, with the exceptions being "Shades of Heavenly Death" and a few of the movements of "The Ivory Gate". It's an anomaly in the band's discography, since they would shift to a new direction with the follow-up, and perhaps best regarded as Fates' sole entry into the thrash metal genre that was dominating the world in 1988, without losing touch with the melodic power side of its elder siblings. And, let's be honest, how many songs are as fun for headbanging with friends as "Anarchy Divine"?

Highlights: Anarchy Divine, Silent Cries, In a Word, (most of) The Ivory Gate of Dreams

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (we walk empty corridors in vain)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - Awaken the Guardian (1986)

Awaken the Guardian is the 3rd full length of Fates Warning and the bittersweet swansong for John Arch as the band's frontman. The first thing you'll probably notice is the stunning cover art from Ioannis, who had also contributed imagery for The Spectre Within, Liege Lord's Burn To My Touch, and various other metal and rock albums (several for pretty big named artists). Not only is this painting vivid and beautiful in its choice of color tones and soft, rounded imagery, but it also somehow captures the fantastic spirit that this band once thrived on. It's also pretty sad, because it represents the last of Fates Warning's albums to explore this theme. No Exit may not have been a massive stylistic detour from this record, but the lyrics were already shifting towards a more social and political spectrum.

Make no mistake in thinking Arch and this band parted ways due to any subpar performance, because his work here is both crystalline an elegant. It's very much a refinement of his work on The Spectre Within, though the entire album is arguably more stable and consistent (note that I do not say 'better'). In fact, Awaken the Guardian feels like it might have worked out as a unified concept album, since so many of its tracks ring true to the central atmosphere of siren-like vocal melodies and thick, driving guitar rhythms which reek of sorrowful melodies and forgotten worlds, times long past. This probably also stems from the arrival of Frank "X" Aresti to the band, replacing Victor Arduini's six-strings in the lineup.

"The Sorceress" lifts the first veil from this saddened, twilight epoch with ringing acoustics that mesmerize quite like they were used on The Spectre Within, before the mystic rhythms begin to weave spiderwebs of longing and regret in an even more complex, progressive fashion than the riffs on the predecessor. The track also features some a sluggish doom breakdown and some fine leadwork which scatters to the wind before the final verse. "Valley of the Dolls" begins with one of the very best melodic power metal rhythms I've ever had the pleasure of hearing, before picking up into a complex sequence of searing speed metal below the fairytale vocals. Very much a classic, and one of the most distinct tracks of the band's career, it threads a spike of melodic aggression through walls of shrieking, majestic Arch-ways and evil subterranean bridge riffs. "Fata Morgana" spares no time for thought, immediately thrusting you back into the graceful melodies and powerful post-Maiden guitar work. Arch is a beast in this song, cascading down its shimmering slopes like a river of liquefied sapphire, with one of his more memorable screaming chorus lines:

Fata Morgana. . .
She will take you, your hungry scarred harlot hunting another heart
Morrigan fallen angel, kneeling at the widows altar, temptress of my dreams. . .
She's the widow of my dreams

If your heart doesn't break here, longing for the fallen beauty of female fantasy archetypes that you once dreamed of as a young lad before masturbation ever entered the picture, then Awaken the Guardian probably isn't for you. "Guardian" presses on with a brief acoustic passage that wends into powerful, stunting chords and a lush melody, before returning to its morose cleanliness of melancholic acoustic harmonies, Arch spawning his crystal-tinted, cautionary hymns through a series of counter-melodies and a fabulous bridge which had fans of Geoff Tate or Bruce Dickinson salivating all over their knuckles. "Prelude to Ruin" is another flawless execution, with opening dual leads that scorch as they pan alongside the somber rhythms, hands down some of my favorite riffing on the album, and another of Arch's flights of fantasy. After hearing his performance on this track, how could any band part with him? I would have shoveled money at this dude for at least 3 more albums, even if his heart wasn't in it. Killer riffs, killer leads that build a golden dream-bridge to some external realm we have all lost in our adolescence.

"Giant's Lore (Heart of Winter)" is not my favorite cut on the album, but there is an undeniable charm to the second riff around :20, and this is used numerous times, altered to paint broad strokes against the titan-sized implications of its mythology. Along with the following, pretty yet forgettable, 2 minute instrumental piece "Time Long Past", it represents the weakest block on the album, but that's saying a lot, because even these tracks have an extraordinary plotting which never removes you from the mythic vistas of the album's scope. "Exodus", the 8+ minute finale, is an epic and welcome piece which explores a number of moods, from the crowning vocal glories of its verses to the sobering acoustic breech and back again.

Awaken the Guardian is, not surprisingly, another of those classic 80s recordings which hold up even today with their balance of glimmering highs and murky lows. Despite John Arch's powerful, cutting delivery, the guitars remain good and thick, and you will not miss a note even when he's wailing at full force. The writing borrows quite a lot from best available source, Iron Maiden, with a superb sense for melody and rifling, busybody bass-work, but the Connecticut band has a much more morose darkness about them which is timeless and still refreshing. This album and its two predecessors represent a little niche in power/speed metal which we've simply not returned to in the 20+ years since, and though I may always favor the brilliant Spectre Within, the silver medal of Fates Warning's career MUST belong around this record's banshee-white neck.

Highlights: Valley of the Dolls, Fata Morgana, Guardian, Prelude to Ruin

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10] (entities pass in the night)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - Night on Bröcken (1984)

Although I have no particular qualms with the later, Ray Alder era of Connecticut's finest metal band (and in fact enjoy several of his albums), I will always most strongly identify Fates Warning for their first three albums. The John Arch years represent some of the finest American power/speed metal ever conceived, taking a clear influence from Priest and Maiden and then developing upon their strengths with a myriad of charisma. And though Night on Bröcken is perhaps the least impressive of the three, it's still got a charm to transcend the ages, with the bands signature mix of dark, brooding rhythms and Arch's Dickinson-meets-the-stratosphere vocals, which slice right through the mix like harpy claws tearing through the flesh of some witless Argonaut.

Essentially the band's demo material releases as a full album, Night on Bröcken represented the classic lineup in full, with Jim Matheos & Victor Arduini's dual guitar weaving, Joe DiBiase's choppy bass and Steve Zimmerman's stick slinging. The tones of the album hold up very well, with an unsung purity to the melodies and a rather raw perspective when compared to nearly anything they've released since (The Spectre Within and Awaken the Guardian do possess a few of the album's sonic wiles, but with a denser polish and better songwriting). Though the album is not looked upon favorably by the one surviving member of the original lineup (Matheos), I can hardly understand why. It's solid with a great many memorable vocal hooks and guitar lines, all glazed in a rare, nostalgic atmosphere which you simply don't here anymore.

Wailing feedback spearheads "Buried Alive" into a sequence of rugged chords that recall the earlier Queensrÿche for their inherent melody, a band who had only a year's jump start on this one, and an apt comparison: both would eschew their power/speed metal roots for an infusion of progressive nature not long into their careers, with Fates Warning the less commercial of the two. Despite the slew of fetching riffs here, Arch simply dominates, his higher lines pitching and swaying like a twilight air raid siren. "The Calling" moves at a bruising trot, like a more melodic cousin to "The Trooper", with some great, loose drumming and a deep, mysterious guitar rhythm in the verse. "Kiss of Death" bears a clear influence from Accept or Judas Priest, with a vicious guitar rhythm that wouldn't have been out of place on Metallica's Kill 'Em All. Though it might have the crudest composition on the album, it's still got a dose of the band's shrieking character through the vocals, though the leads feel a little sloppy.

"Night on Bröcken" itself is quite a lovely track immersed in the witchcraft and revelry of the German mountain region in older times, and it's got the great fantasy/folklore-driven lyrics which I always so loved from this band (before they got in touch with their 'feelings' and 'reality' like most prog metal bands). This is one of my favorite cuts here, with a beautiful, soaring chorus around 3:30 and some nice segments of acoustic tranquility. "S.E.K." is one of two instrumental pieces on the album, a vibrant, rambling acoustic which lasts about 80 seconds before the early Maiden thunder of "Misfit", a ballsy epic which celebrates the Greek epic/tragic hero, which features some of the better solo work on the album, including a nice morose dual melody before the 3:30 mark.

This one not so lucky, as he fell to his knees.
Suddenly inflicted, deranged with disease.
His father act with fury, you must not scorn his name.
Cast him to the forest, return never again.

"Shadowfax" is the second instrumental, though more of a groovy, cruising metal piece which gets rather swashbuckly in the bridge, though the title would imply that it's a tribute to Gandalf's horse, and it does possess a nice charging climax rhythm. The final tracks of the album are its longest (6 minutes and up), beginning with the tranquil plucking harmonics of "Damnation". Here is a beautiful ballad which transforms into a very Sabbath-like power hook before, chock full of amazing melodies from both Arch and the guitars. Along with the title track, this is easily one of my favorite pieces on the album, difficult to forget. "Soldier Boy" is also extremely strong, with graceful melodic riffing that casts a surprisingly ominous shadow beneath the wailing vocal surge. Agan, the guitars break out a kickass dual melody deep into the track, and it all ends in raw cannon fire.

As crude as it might often feel, Night on Bröcken is nonetheless a strong start for the Connecti-cunts, starting a low level of buzz that would sadly only become a roar with the band's shift in vocals and direction. I would easily hold this alongside the early Queensrÿche, Riot, or Omen records as a clear example of American power metal done right, but it also comes with a large amount of nostalgic value. It's the type of album you actually want to listen to on as old a format as you've got around (vinyl or cassette preferred), smoke a cigarette for old time's sake and admire your old, yellowed Eddie posters or your decaying 1st edition AD&D Player's Handbook. It's far from my favorite Fates Warning effort, but a fine debut with a surprising amount of staying power.

Highlights: Night on Bröcken, Misfit, Damnation, Soldier Boy

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (let the plague begin)

http://www.fateswarning.com/

Fates Warning - The Spectre Within (1985)

There are two fairly distinct phases of Fates Warning to note. In the early years, primarily with John Arch on vocals (and ending with 1988's No Exit, the debut of Ray Alder in the band), they created classic, riff-heavy compositions in the vein of melodic speed metal with a dash of Maiden. Starting with Perfect Symmetry, a more mechanical, progressive entity took form. While this latter phase produced some interesting and memorable albums (Perfect Symmetry, Parallels, Inside Out), it is the classic Fate's Warning which I hold most dear. There is something truly atmospheric about their first three albums. 1984's Night On Bröcken was a solid debut with a few catchy pieces, but it's follow-up The Spectre Within is not only the finest album in the band's career...but one of the greatest melodic metal albums ever to emerge from the US of A.

Each of the seven tracks on Spectre creates a bold narrative vision, laden in the mystique of carefully plotted compositions and the haunting keen of John Arch. Outside of the music of Fate's Warning, one might find Arch annoying at best, but within the milieu of old, haunted speed metal landscapes, he shines like a fallen God. "Traveler in Time" creates a panorama of flowing bass and insanely catchy riffing which foreshadows their later, progressive work. The track also features some creepy acoustic segments with amazing vocal lines, bells, drumming, unbelievably awesome. "Orphan Gypsy" is powerful and sad, glistening melodies atop its forceful, circular intro riffing. The speed metal of the verse is amazing, but again, this band wrote riffs like no other, you can alreaady hear the adventurous nature the band would channel for the remainder of its career, even though the enveloping composition is somewhat traditional. The lyrical skill of this band was nearly unparalleled in its day, almost poetic.

Young warrior to the drunken galley slave, running with the wind running wayward knave I'm a vagabond with a maëlstrom mind, my blood has left me behind So go away, leave me alone, if you look in my eyes you see only stone I won't let you in, I can lock you out, in your world, your fallacy, I don't want desolate island debris

Just when you thought you were losing yourself in the high mystique of The Spectre Within, it moors you back to Earth with a pair of pure metal ragers. "Without a Trace" features a lick Iron Maiden only WISHED they came up with, and "Pirates of the Underground" is simply incredible, with a gung ho vibe to its volley of riffs, an almost doom/speed hybrid in its verse. "Apparition" has Arch at his best, the vocal melodies are inescapably memorable, and the riffs plod along with limitless grandeur. "Kyrie Eleison" opens with some chanting and then proceeds to create moody atmospheric doom the likes of many others only dream of conjuring, before the amazing verse riffing picks up speed. The epic length album closer "Epitaph" runs nearly 12 minutes length, and never grows dull. 12 minutes of perfection, from the monolithic doomy intro riff to the flourish of proggish synthesizers in the closing seconds. At this point you know you've been on quite the journey, once the album ends you can return to the world of sunshine.

The Spectre Within has a timeless production, the album has never become dated, except in the technical sense. This is a testament to the superb quality of every second of riffing on the disc. There are no weak tracks, no boring moments, and nothing even bordering on 80s cheese. The album is dark and serious, haunting and morose, with only a smattering of fist pumping metal excitement on "Without a Trace" and "Pirates of the Underground". This is one of the very best releases of classic American metal, and one of the best for Metal Blade/Restless. Yes, despite the rash of trendy modern signings the label has made to stay afloat in this tasteful era, they were once the mightiest label around, with a roster of legends. Fate's Warning is surely one of those legends, and this album represents their finest hour.

Verdict: Epic Win [10/10] (defective unit on the street tonight, he hunts the weak and clips its wings)

http://www.fateswarning.com/