SOUL INSIDE

This is a nice offering that Byelorussian metal band In Search For released last year (2010), one year after their debut album entitled "Faith". Though they have not reached yet the success they would like to, I am sure that more people from the entire world are listening to them, and one reason is that this EP named "Soul Inside" is free-to-download, so people like me who are not really into progressive metal can try something new.

And I tried it, and liked it. This is a five-song EP with a total time of 21 minutes, as I said, it is a metal band, but with some folk tendencies that can be noticed by the use of violin and other elements. This EP opens with "Moving On", a five-minute piece that has an extraordinary power inherent in the music, with the addition of the folkish violin and the symphonic keyboards, all together creating a strong and interesting track. The vocals are also good and there is a good guitar solo. Nice opener! "Soul Inside" starts with a soft keyboard sound for some seconds, and later drums, bass and guitars appear, the latter with a first solo. Then they fade out and vocals enter like a hidden element that all of a sudden will explode. The track shows some changes which do not harm it, on the other hand, make it better. The guitar solo and some other moments remind me a bit of Ayreon, which as I previously read, is a favorite band of Yann Zhenchak, leader of In Search For.

"Home" is a shorter composition, with a dark sound and angry vocals that scream out loud, while some backing vocals sing the kind of chorus. There are pretty interesting elements in this song, the guitar and keyboard work is pretty good, and I do like the death vocals combined with those backing voices, cool.

"The Best from the Rest" is an interesting track that starts with an electronic sound, later morphed into a powerful metal one. This song reminds me once again to Ayreon, actually the very beginning takes me to some The Human Equation moments. There are (as usual) guitar solos, and some nice changes like at minute four when acoustic guitar appears in a softer moment.

And finally the shortest track: "Outro" which seems to be the continuation of the previous track, that softer moment with acoustic guitar I previously mentioned is used here, but in an even softer style, and with the addition of a beautiful violin sound, complemented with nice backing voices.

Not the best metal EP I have ever listened to, but it is interesting and worth checking, so I recommend it to all progressive metal fans. My final grade will be three stars.

Enjoy it!