FWX

Being an "old school" Fates Warning fan ("The Ivory Gate of Dreams" is still their best composition, I don't care if you don't like heavy music), it has been hard to keep following the band. I actually much prefer Alder's (/w Vera) Engine albums (which "Crawl" on this new album sounds like it could have been an Engine track, to be honest) over the current FWX. Personally, any prog-rock fan should be more interested in Porcupine Tree, than Fates, because Fates "Matheos" Warning are just missing something to make a solid, interesting album. Now, it's not that I only like heavier music, because my favorite FW tracks are actually "The Road Goes on Forever", "Chasing Time", "Island in the Stream", "Part IX", although after the afore mentioned TIGoD, "So" is my favorite track of the post-metal FW era.

As for FWX, I do like the fact they went back to songs, instead of the 15-25 minute ramblings, because Matheos just can't seem to pull it off and make you care about the music over a really long track. As much as I like Alder's voice on heavy tracks, I've never thought his voice fits prog-rock, as well.

The only real track I care about on FWX is "A Handful of Doubt", which fits well along with my favorite Fates tracks listed above. I do like "Stranger", too, something retro about it I find catchy and "Crawl" is a good rocker for the car, if not prog-ish.

Of course, for 1997-2004 Fates fans, all that I just wrote I'm sure will be considered blasphemous. That's cool and if so, you probably (will) love this album, and I have no problem with that at all.

However, if you are like me, though, and really don't know what to make of Fates over the past seven years, you should check out Dead Soul Tribe's latest offering, "A January Tree", which is amazing - the updated "Just Like A Timepiece" is worth the price alone, in my opinion.