SYMMETRICAL

Italian prog metal band Odd Dimension has been around for almost a decade, but 2011 finally saw the release of their debut full-length album, Symmetrical. Odd Dimension doesn't have the most groundbreaking sound in the world, but their talent as musicians is impeccable and the songwriting department is often excellent as well. I can't consider Odd Dimension's debut to be essential, but it's surely above average and promising. If they can further expand upon the formula they've created here, I can sense an excellent sophomore album coming from this direction. Symmetrical is ultimately a good listen for all prog metal fans, even if it does little to stand out from the competition.

Symmetrical is progressive metal with nods in the direction of Fates Warning, Dream Theater, and Vanden Plas. Odd Dimension adds a few symphonic metal influences that keep them from being a complete "clone" band, though. Even though they may not be the most adventurous act out there, Odd Dimension delivers progressive metal in a top-notch fashion. Despite a few compositions that fail to capture me, the vast majority of the album is extremely enjoyable. My favorite track is probably "I'll Be Back Once More" which features some excellent vocals from Manuel Candiotto and great synth lines from Max Capra. The rest of the music is very good, albeit fairly standard, progressive metal. Odd Dimension is a professional band, and the musicianship is phenomenal throughout Symmetrical. Unfortunately, one of my biggest gripes with the album is the production, which sounds somewhat muffled and has a few technical hiccups. A better sound would've improved my overall experience significantly.

Symmetrical is a very good, sometimes even great, debut from Odd Dimension that I'd recommend fans of prog metal in the Dream Theater camp to check out. These Italian lads will have to work out a few issues if they really want to amaze me with their next album, but this is still a promising and highly enjoyable effort. Symmetrical isn't an essential release, but I've had a fun time listening to it so 3.5 stars are warranted here. I'm hopeful for the future of Odd Dimension!

Debut album from Italian pompous power metal proggers. From your "pompous power" father you've got over-the-top vocals, bone- crunching production, vaguely fantasy lyrics and straight forward rhythm section. From prog mother - hyperactive keys and ever-morphing melodic lines and song structures.

Their second album, Last embrace to humanity, is better in my opinion, but still keeps with the same general style, so unless you are completist, you'd be happy with the second album. But this is still a quality debut, thankfully the band have around for a while. It's an amalgamation of the various sub-genres influencing prog metal sound - symphonic metal a la Rhapsody (Farewell to stars), cheesy 80s metal (Light speed journey), organ driven 70 s heavy rock with polyphonic vocal (I'll be back some more), even some extreme character vocals (Another shore, thankfully by their second album, like British band Haken, they would this unneccasary aping from gothic bands). By their second album, they would at the same time more proggy and pop, with more refined songwriting, which, honestly, even then feels somewhat chaotic.

Overall, this is clearly ambitious metal, not just metal with some progressive touches, as most of the so-called progressive metal bands are. So I am kind of surprised that Odd Dimension have many reviews on the traditional metal sites and not on progressive sites.