NATURE/EXISTENCE

Echoes is a (sort of) instrumental prog metal outfit from Venezuela who produce music well within the genre's typical sound. I picked up this album as one of their guitarists came to the forum asking for feedback, and I was impressed by the quality of the recording and musicianship. While firmly within the Dream Theater style of prog metal, Echoes rarely devolve into showy chops displays, and overall I'd say that NATURE / RESISTANCE is a more musical and listenable piece of work than most of the recent DT I've listened to. The band has plenty of energy, a few personal touches, and the album flows well so that my attention never lags. Unfortunately, the band seemed undecided about how to deal with their lack of vocalist. Rather than do a completely instrumental album, they chose the lead vox by committee route, and the results are predictably mixed.

Carl Webb lends his voice on "Rude Awakening" and "Far from Coincidence." His tracks have the most distinct identity and his lyrics seem the most focused. Both he and Pedro Castillo try a more personal approach than the typical prog metal howler, something a bit like early prog metal band Damn the Machine's vocalist. Nick Storr and Tobias Jannson are less memorable, and I think the band feels the most comfortable with Webb. In addition, there are a number of instrumental tracks which vary quite a bit in style and theme. The opening track is extremely strong, but the later, orchestrated "Farewell" is pretty but seems a little out of place with its almost Baroque strings. Sax weaves in and out of several tracks, and this seems to fit better. Keyboardist Alfredo Ovalles adds some industrial and psychedelic layers at times which also adds to the variety.

Metal is about electric guitar and Echoes boast a three axe attack that allows the band the ability to reproduce their multilayered music live. Clearly, the parts are carefully composed and meant to compliment each others. I'd definitely use the word tasty to describe the work, though there is some fire-breathing just to please the usual needs for some chops. The production quality is quite good.

Overall, this is a promising band that first needs a permanent singer (hopefully one with a distinctive vocal tone) and to decide how they are going to make their individual mark. All of the building blocks are there already. Though I would consider this album equal to many of its peers already, I hear more potential in this band. I'll be keeping an ear open for their next offering.

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