SYMPATHETIC RESONANCE

As tempting as it is to just copy-paste the word 'fap' a hundred times, I guess I'd better write a proper review. "Sympathetic Resonance" is the debut album from Arch / Matheos, which according to both Arch and Matheos is a band and not just a project (so, who knows, maybe there will be more albums under this moniker).

Given that all members of Arch / Matheos are, or have been, involved in Fates Warning, this release bears some similarities with Fates Warning, but it stands alone in its own right. Musically, we are dealing with listener-friendly progressive metal in the sense that there are a lot of things going on, particularly a lot of Jim Matheos' signature odd meters, and the tunes are complex, but things never get too technical for the listener to follow. While complex and with many twists and turns, the music on this release is mainly riff-based - and the riffs have the same sort of solidity to them as on John Arch's "A Twist of Fate" as well as on Fates Warning efforts like "Disconnected" and "FWX" (but the Arch / Matheos tunes strike me as more complex and with a tad more quirky elements).

The musicianship is top notch across the board with rocking riffage and tasty guitar solos, rock solid bass, and tasty progressive drumming with lots of nice little details to enrich the overall experience. The main attraction, to me at least, is John Arch's soaring vocals. His voice is so unique and the vocal melodies so complex and busy. His voice sounds better than before - better than on his EP and better than the classic Fates Warning albums (and he was already phenomenal back then) - and I would argue that it is his vocals which, although the entire package is awesome, is what characterizes "Sympathetic Resonance" and gives it its unique nature.

"Sympathetic Resonance" is an instant progressive metal classic featuring some of the best musicians within the genre. Obviously, it will appeal to Fates Warning fans, but I would recommend it to fans of all types of progressive metal.

(review originally posted at metalmusicarchives.com)