FWX

Well, how should I comment this new output of them? I'd like to say they became a bit old, not so much regarding power, but more in regards of inspiration. The first song is still quite good with a nice acoustic intro,but starting from track #2 they're sounding more and more like Tool. And I have to say it's a bit weak from an already very settled band to try to emulate the style of a much younger one and trying to find more fans in the younger generation by this. Nothing against trying to be "up-to-date", but this usually implies as well to go more for what's trendy and commercially successful. Maybe the reason why I don't like the record very much is that I don't like Tool's style at all. But even as a fan of them I would not buy it, because then I'd rather go for the original. For me their biggest masterpiece is still "A Pleasant Shade Of Grey", which was a real artistic work in progressive rock/metal. That one I'd recommend to all fans of excellent prog metal. But "FWX" I can only recommend to fellows who like to have a very modern album by them which is compatible with MTV program. For me the pinnacle of this band has been passed since a long time and what I can hear here has not to do anything with that band Fates Warning I know from the 'good old times'.

Background

Based on my experience with progressive music, there are three categories of prog albums based on my listening experience. Category A is the album that blew my mind at first listen and it became my all-time favorite and I kept on playing the CD at my player on and on. Examples of this Cat A includes: Marillion (Fish era), Arena, IQ, Dream Theater, post Syd Barrett Pink Floyd, Yes "Fragile", Yes "Going For The One", Yes "Drama" etc. Category B is the album that was hard for me to accept at first listen but it grew with number of spins and by (typically) spin number 8 (eight) it became my favorite. This album of Fates Warning and also "Disconnected" fall under this category. Other examples include: Gentle Giant (except "Civilian"), Yes "Tales from Topographic Ocean", Yes "Relayer", Pain of Salvation "Perfect Element Part 1" and "Remedy Lane", etc.. Category C is the album that did not attract me to have other spin due to weak composition (lack of structure or melody) or lack of originality of its music (too much influence of other bands). I don't want to give examples of this, actually, as it would create further controversy with other prog listeners. But I have to be honest as I experienced it myself. Examples: Jump (a group that was coached by Mark Kelly), Landmarq "The Vision Pit", RPWL "God Has Failed", first three albums of Spock's Beard, Grey Lady Down, Thieve Kitchen "Argot" (this album is overrated? Dunno). Albums under this category may move to Category B. Disagreement with my view is welcome as we are talking about prog, aren't we?. It's not prog at all if I do not welcome any disagreement or differing views.

Album Review

As for FWX album, my chief reason of putting it under category B was that I did not get used to the kind of music these guys were playing. It was a bit "weird" for me as it's not typical progressive metal music like Dream Theater or Symphony X where I was familiar with. That's why this album did not attract me at all at first listen. It has grown significantly after fourth spin and I can assure you that this album deserves more than four star rating actually. But, I don't want to be that naïve to give five star right away.

If you expect that this album is typical prog met vein with heavy rhythm and riffs, you will be dissatisfied and most probably you do not want to give another chance of listening. You must be open mind with its music, try to accept whatever sounds and melodies the band is playing and have multiple spins if you can not enjoy at first shot. You will then, hopefully, find the beauty of Fates Warning music as I have experienced with this album as well as "Disconnected". In a nutshell, the music of this album is like an "atmospheric progressive metal" with strange (but stunning) guitar, dynamic drumming and high register voice line. I'm really amazed with the musical quality of this album; it's an excellent one!

The album kicks off with a simple acoustic guitar in ambient style as an intro of "Left Here". The music flows with electric guitar and drumming plus bass line followed by a distanced voice line. There is a symphonic nuance indicated by keyboard sound at background. The drumming style is unique and very noticeable throughout the track. The distorted guitar is long sustain, free form open passage with sort of unusual signatures.

"Simple Human" blasts off the music in "almost" similar vein of prog met music with relatively heavy riffs but the music suddenly turns quieter with unique singing style backed with great bass line. Yes, the bass line is noticeable in this track - it forms like a simple and soft riffs for the music. The guitar is now played differently with some rhythm style plus effects. This track might be accessible to any prog metal fans.

The third track "River Wide Ocean Deep" starts off with simple music with percussion and keyboard sounds accentuated with nice female chanting (really great chanting!) that accompany the male voice line. I observe the long sustain distorted guitar with beautiful effects during this intro part. The voice turns to higher notes backed with dynamic drums and guitar effects. Oh man .. I scream aloud when I listened to this track. What a wonderful song this one is!!

"Another Perfect Day" was I thought a ballad song when I listened to the opening guitar rhythm. But it turns to a powerful guitar riffs in fast tempo that suddenly turns quieter with the voice line entering the music. The interlude part with lead guitar combines the prog metal music with classic rock sound.

"Heal Me" opens with a slow tempo voice line backed with simple guitar fills and bass guitar. The keyboard sound projects a symphonic nuance of this track especially when it's accompanied with a tape loop of drum sound. The full music then follow with great drumming and guitar. The transition piece with tape loop is then follow with fast tempo music in full scale with high register vocal. It's a stunning composition and it will favor most of prog metal lovers. I love drumming work, it's so powerful. The use of acoustic guitar with dynamic drumming during transition / interlude part has enriched this song.

"Sequence #7" is a short instrumental song that contains sound effects and distortion with accentuated bass line, simple guitar fills and distanced voice. It reminds me, for some reason, to some pieces in Porcupine Tree "Stupid Dream" album. It flows seamlessly to next track "Crawl" with medium tempo. Again, I'm fascinated by the drumming sound and distorted guitar.

"A Handful of Doubt" offers another style of music in mellow style at first half. The opening guitar fills and bass line work really well for the singer to enter the music. The last half of the track features full music with faster tempo and high register. Simple yet enjoyable track. Next track "Stranger (With a Familiar Face)" seems to me like a straight forward hard rock tune with some progressive touch especially the drumming part. It's an excellent track though.

The concluding track "Wish" is another excellent track The voice line starts something different: using lower register than any other tracks. Unusual with other tracks, the piano is used beautifully in this song (sounded weird to me: progressive metal with piano? - but it's nice with this track).

Overall Conclusion : Buy this CD. Rating: 4.25 /5 - it potentially might grow to 5 in the future. Keep On Progging! - GW, Indonesia.

Definately not a perfect X (ten).

FWX is as the name suggests, the tenth release from Progressive Metal pioneers Fates Warning. The album features many tones similar to what many Fates Warning fan would expect, but that's kind of the problem. The tracks sound more like songs that didn't make previous albums like a Pleasant Shade of Grey. Fates Warning dosen't seem to be doing anything new or interesting.

The album is structured more like a standard Heavy Metal album than a Progressive Metal album. Progressive Metal is a great genre because the listener wants to hear what's next in the song, not what the next song is. This album does not fullfill that wish. The song structure is simple and unimaginative, kind of like the tones on the album.

The guitars are not doing anything too melodic or too great. Matheos stick much more to a standard rythymn guitar style of playing than lead melodies that he's so known for. The tones are excellent, they are clear with good attack, but there's not really much playing.

The vocals by Ray Alder are probably the spectacle of this album. The vocals are clear and poweful. Alder's voice is qutie variant (the rest of the band isn't). The vocals are really the only reason to listen to this album. The listener may not care much for the album, but no one can deny the quality of the vocal performance on this album.

The bass is simplistic, but it's very present in the mix. It certainly has a role in the album, but it's still not much more important than it is in most metal bands.

The drums are a letdown. The beats are standardized and uncreative. They do follow the format of the album for the most part, a format that's repeatative and boring.

The production is excellent, but that has to be expected from a band as big as Fates Warning. The tonality is excellent for all insturments, but the music just doesn't do the production justice. Usually it's the other way around, but Fates Warning have managed to sound better than they really are.

It's not worth three stars, but it's not a total loss. Chances are some Fates Warning fans will find something they like here, but most mid-level fans won't care too much for this one. Two stars seems like the proper rating.

On a perfect day the river is wide and the ocean deep ...

FATES WARNING is one of my favourite Prog Metal bands - maybe not typical for this subgenre (so I'm not an expert). I like Ray Alder's voice because she's not so rough or harsh - perfectly harmonizing with the melodies. Yes - their music is very melodic provided with fantastic hooklines (what I've heard from the band so far). And they often have a psychedelic touch within the songs.

For example the short Sequence or River wide ocean deep which starts very melancholic with decent spacy guitars, synthy soundscapes and some female oriental background vocals. After a while then it changes into a frantic mood - staccato drums, heavy riffs and above all Alder's emotional vocals - a perfect song! Another perfect day remembers me much at Porcupine Tree. But nevertheless a wonderful song with transitions to classic heavy rock. The closing Wish with sentimental piano additions is another highlight of this album.

Furthermore it's not necessary to mention all the other songs - there are no losses. 'FWX' is recommend to fans of melodic prog metal and art rock.

This is FATES WARNING's tenth studio album and their twentieth anniversary as a band. I don't think there is any doubt that the band was filled with confidence as they recorded this album having just completed a successful tour with QUEENSRYCHE and DREAM THEATER the year before. They even produce this album themselves as Jim and Ray took on that responsibility. I love the cover art of an older couple sitting on their lawn chairs watching a tornado out in the field. The band thanks former lead guitarist Frank Aresti (nice), Mike Portnoy, Nick D'Virgilio, Bernie Versailles and Nick van Dyk. Like on the "Disconnected" album Jim and Ray share the song writing duties while Jim takes care of the music. On a sad note this will be Mark Zonder's last album with the band. This record has a similar sound to "Disconnected" but it's more straight forward with shorter songs, some being almost radio friendly in the verse, chorus, verse mode. I have to say the song writing is again steller. Jim plays keys as Kevin Moore is not involved in this one, so there is less keyboard work as well.

"Left Here" opens with the sounds of crickets as gently played guitar comes in. It starts to build as synths and drums arrive followed by the grinding guitar of Matheos. Zonder and Matheos are amazing ! Some beautiful guitar melodies to end it. "Simple Human" comes out swinging and someone is going down. This song is both heavy and catchy. "River Wide Ocean Deep" is dark with lots of atmosphere to open, a lot of tension as well. A female vocal melody comes and goes. The song breaks out a couple of times with some scathing guitar to end it. The lyrics are very interesting about three different women or three different moods of the same woman. In the first verse she has loving eyes, open arms and a soothing voice. In the second verse she has vacant eyes, withered arms and a thundering voice. In the third verse she has wild eyes, clutching arms and a drowning voice.

"Another Perfect Day" has an uptempo intro that settles down to a pleasant, feel good song. Nice. I am reminded of PORCUPINE TREE as the guitar is strummed before turning heavy. "Heal Me" is ballad-like for 2 minutes (Ray does a nice job) before turning heavy with Vera and Zonder shining brightly. "Sequence #7" is an instrumental with samples and programming like OSI. "Crawl" is a good one with heavy bass, guitar and drums. "A Handful Of Doubt" is a good mid-paced tune with some heaviness that comes and goes. "Stranger (With A Familiar Face)" is more uptempo with a blistering guitar solo from Jim. This song smokes ! "Wish" has a steady rhythm with some keys from Matheos. More scorching guitar.

Overall a great record that doesn't live up to "Disconnected" but has some fantastic songs on it anyway. "River Wide Ocean Deep" is probably my favourite with "Left Here" and "Another Perfect Day" rounding out my top three for now.

|D| Possibly one of my (brother's) worst blind purchases of prog metal.

It seems that reviewers are overall split pretty evenly on whether this is a quality release or an uninspired flop of an album. While I wouldn't say this is a complete disaster, I definitely belong more in the group of the latter. This was also, unfortunately, my first full fledged Fates Warning experience, which made me think I didn't like this pioneering prog metal band for a bit of time until I discovered more of their discography.

Really, objectively, this is a pretty decent album in terms of how the instruments are together, music theory wise. Many of the instrumental passages are almost up their with that of their earlier work with Parallels and Perfect Symmetry. But there are two major things make this album fall flat on its face. Most prevalent are the fail-tastic vocal melodies, which are some of the worst I've heard so far in prog metal. On many tracks we have an energetic riff from the guitar with long, slow moving vocal parts that seem completely out of place with everything else that's happening with the instruments. Just listen to the chorus of the second song, Simple Human; "yeah ah yeah" lasting almost a full two measures over energetic fast moving part. It just doesn't fit. I don't mind Alder's voice itself, but his singing style sounds more like that of those obnoxious alternative rock bands from the nineties, as do some of the guitar parts. The second big thing that I dislike is the overall predictability and repetitiousness of the music overall. On one hand, the band incorporates many great progressive nuances in this album, but the basic parts are overused at best, and are not very interesting to begin with. Usually a track starts with a nice intro, but once the verse and chorus set in, I feel like I've heard the whole rest of the track already, and usually I actually have.

When doing my recent objective listen before this review, I'd listened to the first three tracks and couldn't figure out what exactly about it made the music as weak as I had remembered it. Then upon hearing Another Perfect Day, the only track I'm really fond of on the album, it became abundantly clear; it really did have to do with the quite terrible vocal melodies. And other than the also decent Heal Me, this was how the rest of the album was. Had they been written differently, this could have been a quite powerful and enjoyable album, and it's too bad such a menial thing should bring down the quality of an entire work, as it does for me. I especially disliked Simple Human, River Wide Ocean Deep, and Crawl, which really did sound like simple alternative rock with slight progressive nuances.

Really this isn't a complete disaster of an album, particularly with some quite competent instrumental sections, but there was little I can say I really enjoyed from the album other than Another Perfect Day (especially that great chorus!). The vocal melodies and predictability just ruin it for me overall. Thus, I simply can't recommend this album to anyone but Fates Warning fans alone.

Running out of steam

FWX (or Fates Warning Ten) is Fates Warning's latest album to date and represents the late period of the band's diverse career. As such FWX is most similar in style to Disconnected and A Pleasant Shade Of Gray but inferior to those in quality. It is not a bad album in its own right, but it is clear that the band was running out of steam at this point and the album does sound rather uninspired compared to previous albums. Indeed, I would say that FWX is the least good of all the Ray Alder-era Fates Warning albums. So, I don't think it was a coincidence that the band decided to stop after this album and that there has not been any more Fates Warning albums since. In 2003 (the year before the release of FWX) Jim Matheos reunited with original Fates Warning singer John Arch to record Arch's solo EP A Twist Of Fate and the two epic songs found on that EP sound very much more inspired than anything from FWX. Maybe this was what motivated Matheos to put Fates Warning on ice and record a full length album with Arch in 2010?

The album starts on a high note with its best track, Left Here. This song has about the same quality as the average song from the previous two albums, but the rest of FWX is weaker and it tends to become a little bit samey towards the middle. The band sounds a bit tired and uninspired even if they have not lost they vocals and instrumental skills and talents. There is a nice acoustic touch to some songs and some electronic touches, but very little in terms of adventurous song structures and the like.

If Fates Warning will ever record another studio album together, I hope that it will not be similar to this one but rather a return to the sound of the band's classic period in the late 80's and early 90's.

FWX is recommended only for fans and collectors of the band, but they will surely enjoy it to some degree as did I.

"FWX" is the 10th full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Fates Warning. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in October 2004. "FWX" was recorded by the same lineup who recorded the two predecessors "A Pleasant Shade of Gray (1997)" and "Disconnected (2000)". This time around Kevin Moore (Dream Theater, Chroma Key, OSI) doesn´t guest on keyboards though. The keyboards and the programming are instead handled by guitarist/main composer Jim Matheos.

While the music on the two predecessors is among the most progressive the band have yet released, "FWX", for the most part, follows a different route. The album is generally more vers/chorus oriented and there´s a slight alternative influence on the album too. To my ears Some tracks sound closer to Ray Alder´s and Joey Vera´s side-project Engine than they sound like Fates Warning tracks. A track like "Another Perfect Day" reminded me quite a bit of Enchant, so "FWX" is generally a bit of a different sounding Fates Warning album.

The album is well produced although I think Ray Alder´s voice features a somewhat unpleasant metallic production. But that´s been the case on the two precessors too. What´s more disturbing is the quality of the vocal melody lines, which are not very catchy. That worked alright on the more progressive predecessors because the quality of the music was so high, but here the instrumental part of the music too often falls into anonymous territory. The musicianship is as always on a very high level, but it´s not often the band´s great skills are put to their full use.

So overall "FWX" is a bit of a disappointing release by Fates Warning. It´s a bit hard to follow what the band were aiming at with the album but the bottom line is that it isn´t really working. "FWX" features glimpses of greatness and there are definitely both memorable and enjoyable parts on the album, but they are generally few and far between. Still a band like Fates Warning never fall flat on their face even on an album where they don´t deliver their most well written or interesting material, so a 3 star (60%) rating is still deserved.

Review Nº 347

In a career spanning far more than 30 years, few critics will dispute that Fates Warning has been one of the most influential progressive metal bands. Some critics would go further. Their ability never to allow their music to stagnate, constantly evolving by embracing innovative additions to their sound, makes of them the most influential band in the genre. So, as one of the true pioneers of the progressive metal genre, since bursting onto the scene three decades ago, Fates Warning have never stood still. They were always prepared to develop their sound and push the boundaries of their chosen craft. They've maintained a massive respect and loyal following from the music lovers across the all globe.

'FWX' is the tenth studio album of Fates Warning and was released in 2004. This studio album carries on the tradition. Listening to this album there's a sense of energy, verve and creativity running throughout this album, whith the usual trademark of Fates Warning. One of the big plus points for me with this band is that very few of their albums sound alike. Thanks to Jim Matheos' unique guitar style and Ray Alder's pristine vocals, they've an immediately recognisable sound. Still, each album comes with a slightly different mixture. That makes of Fates Warning a true prog metal band.

There's been no such thing as a 'bad' Fates Warning release. They just tend to have different levels of appeal to different listeners. As a result, fans of the band tend to have very different personal favourites. 'FWX' stands as a mix between the more electronic sounds of their last release 'Disconnected' and the melodic accessibility of 'Parallels'.

As on Fates Warning's albums, the main driver is Alder's vocal performance, which is excellent as usual. Alder's voice carries a melodic line that is memorable and catchy. The compositions on this one are based on the collaboration of the three remaining members. Jim Matheos provides the guitar parts, which are for the most part full of melodies. He does bring his heavier side here as well. Moreover, Matheos handles the keyboards in 'FWX', which are used to accent certain parts and help in the forming of bridges here and there. The rhythm section on 'FWX' handles its duties well. Vera and Zonder form an excellent rhythmic section upon which Matheos's guitar work can literally shine on the album.

One thing that we shouldn't expect in a Fates Warning's album is the overplaying. This is the case with 'FWX' too. The melancholic atmosphere is present on 'FWX'. It's formed on the instrumental work of the players and is emphasized by Alder's vocal performance, which seems effortless. Certain songs sound accessible, being a progressive album. Still, 'FWX' demands the listener's attention and quite a few full listens before one can understand it and value it as a whole.

'FWX' represents a semi-return to more traditional song structures in contrast to the depth conceptual work of their previous releases. The album begins with 'Left Here', a mid-tempo track mixed with acoustic and electric guitars. The programming and effects adds a classy touch without overpowering the song. The best thing of Fates Warning is Alder's voice. He adds to Matheos's music warmth and longing. 'Simple Human' is a heavier track. Again, Alder brings power to the vocals. The song isn't all that exciting but still is Fates Warning. 'River Wide Ocean Deep' is an ambient track with effects of a female Arabian-like voice. 'Another Perfect Day' is an acoustic driven slow song. It's not very metal, but still is a progressive music. 'Heal Me' is quite varied in dynamics and emotion and has some great added sounds and instruments. The vocal performance is perfect, as usual. 'Sequence' is short and one of the heaviest and more traditional metal tracks. The chorus tends to get a bit repetitive but doesn't spoil the overall quality of the track. 'A Handful Of Doubt' is another ballad-like song, very emotional. It begins with the acoustic guitar driving the song and then opens up to the full ensemble in the middle of the song. 'Stranger (With A Familiar Face)' is the heaviest, or most up tempo track. This song almost has a return to the 80's power prog sound but it's great nonetheless. 'Wish' is another very ambient track. There is an excellent piano section on this track and we have a Matheos' good guitar solo.

Conclusion: Fates Warning doesn't make 'bad' albums. Whether 'FWX' is one of their best albums will depend if you like the emphasis they have chosen this time around. 'FWX' might not be one of their best albums, but personally I'd rate 'FWX' as one of their most coherent and consistent albums since 'Parallels'. It's true that overall, it isn't very exciting. However, Matheos puts a lot of effort into making the songs as structured with good breadth and depth by including programming and other sounds than traditional metal. All in all, this is a very mature release. In reality, 'FWX' is a prog metal album that balances prog and metal in a simple and catchy way, being heavy enough for the tradicional heavy metal fans and progressive enough for the prog-rock/metal addicts. In my humble opinion, there just isn't a weak moment on the whole album. The production is pristine perfect and polished with the typical Matheos' feel and emotion. So, once again, these veterans of the American progressive metal scene have put out a highly recommendable release.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)