DISCONNECTED

Music albums are art expressions that somehow manage to assume a definite personality after they are released, and this is certainly a hard thingto achieve when the ears of fans and collectors are still impressed by an amazing concept-album that had been released previously - this was the status of Fates Warning's "Disconnected", to become acknowledged as a musica lwork with its own worth after the paragon incarnated in "A Pleasant Shade of Gray", the defining concept-album that signalled a rebirth for the band. "Disconnected" managed to get a warm reception from fans since it was easy to find the traces of connection (no pun intended) with the preceding master opus, while allowing the band to explore its progressive side a bit further simultaneously with a refurbishment of their most notably metallic side. "Disconnected" bears a more patent sonic power in general (still comparing it with "Pleasant"), but by now let us remember that this is a new FW that is forging its own individual phase. Zonder's impeccable class shines as always, making this album a re-confirmation of hispercussive genius. It is no surprise either that Ray Alder exhibits his energetic emotion through each syllable he sings in tracks 2-6. The album starts with the namesake prologue, eerie and minimalistic, leaving no room to suspect that a whirlwind of architectonic metal is on the brink - I'm referring to 'One', a precise manifesto of anguish and dissatisfaction wrapped in a dynamic musical development. Later on, 'So' will be in charge of reiterating this rocking explosion: this sort of punch works effectively in terms of capturing the listener's attention and securing it for a while. Of course, it is in the longest pieces that the band has the chance to create and ordain more sophisticated ideas, but also we must remember that FW's compositions were never about excessive flashing. 'So', 'Something from Nothing' and 'Still Remains' are the album's tour-de-forces. The former is largely based on a somewhat simplistic chord progression that goes on expanded on a languid rhythmic structure, in this way allowing Alder to describe mental exhaustion with his singing. The second one bears a bigger dose of pomposity, including some industrial-friendly resources that bear family airs with Chroma Key (the presence of Kevin Moore as guest keyboardist should be regarded as relevant here), seasoned with Floydian atmospheres. Even though you won't find your usual metallic frenzy here, this piece manages to be quite splendorous. The latter of the aformentioned three pieces is the album's definitive monster track, which might as well be one of the band's pinnacles in their entire recording career. This piece captures a momentum from itsvery initial passages, developing an amalgam that recapitulates the beats features of the album's integral repertoire, in this way stating a powerful building of pure progressive rock. The melancholic languidity of its last passages makes it easy to connect with the namesake epilogue, which is a solemn instrumental sustained on a monotone reflectiveness expressed by teh guitar-synth's phrases. The background narration issupposed to come from the recording of a dead priest's ghost who was offering his philosophical views about the afterlife. Scary, yes, but also profund and intellectually intriguing - a proper ending for this very special prog metal album by this very special band Fates Warning.