SYMPATHETIC RESONANCE

You may kill me but I want to start being completely honest: I have never listened to Fates Warning. So in this review I cannot make a comparison or talk about their FW past, I will only focus in what I found here, and how I experienced this album. 'Sympathetic Resonance' is the name of this child, a six-song album with a total time of 58 minutes approximately. As you can imagine, you will find long and elaborated songs. So have fun!

It opens with 'Neurotically Wired', whose first introductory minute has a kind of soft sound, which later will be heavier, in the vein of progressive metal. The song will be progressing little by little, capturing your attention and opening the gates to an addictive Arch/Matheos sound. I like the changes, the nuances, and the composition in general. The voice has that metal-ish style, so if you like the genre you will surely love it. Pardon for my Fates Warning ignorance, but after listening to this album I have to give them a spin.

'Midnight Serenade' is a much shorter track with a nice atmosphere at the beginning. Then it once again turns heavier and starts building up a structure. The chorus is pretty nice, easy to dig and get addicted to it. However, this has to be my least favorite track of the album.

'Stained Glass Sky' is the longest song, and a truly challenging composition. A powerful track with an awesome musicianship, powerful and electrifying instrumental passages that will surely catch your attention. After four minutes Arch's vocals appear and give that special and unique colour he has, creating a wonderful communion between his tone of voice and the instruments. The bass sound along the whole album is strong, drums constant and with great figures, and guitars always great, with cool riffs and wonderful melodies. After eight minutes, the music slows down for a while, but later the heavier explosion appears once again. Great track!

'On the Fence' is powerful and emotional since the first seconds. This also has a darker sound in some passages; the structure is well crafted and elaborated, the guitar work wonderful all the time, and the diversity of feelings created make this a great track.

'Any Given Day (Strangers like me)' has a cool instrumental introduction, with a nice acoustic guitar hide somewhere, and with a powerful drumming. After four minutes there is a one-second stop that sounds great, because it marks like an instant pause which will lead to the explosion. After seven minutes there is another change like that, I love these kind of cohesive and emotional mixtures, which talk positively about the compositional skills of the musicians.

Finally 'Incense and Myrrh' closes this great album. This is the shortest composition, which softly starts with nice clam guitars and vocals, it gradually progresses and adds those heavier elements that are featured on the whole album. This is a nice last track.

Well, I will surely listen to Fates Warning to know at least this project's background, but 'Sympathetic Resonance' as a unit, is a strong and recommendable album. My grade will be four stars.

Enjoy it!

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