TALES FROM THE SOUL

NoVact - Tales from the Soul (To those who understand)

My first introduction to the Dutch progressive metal band NoVact was them supporting Polish prog metal act Riverside at a gig in Den Bosch earlier this year. I couldn't help but notice that this was a bunch of talented young musicians. They managed to warm the audience up for Riverside in a most excellent way.

Due to personal experiences, though, I don't buy cds from supportacts anymore, unless I already know that they sound okay. But I came across this disc yesterday for the ultralow price of 2,99 Euro. Okay, this is worth the buy of course. And because of the price I assumed that the recording of the album would be a bit so-so if you know what I mean, but it did not come across as a bad produced album at all when I listened to it, in fact it's all rather well-produced!

The songs are a mixture of typical progressive metal songs, a bit resembling Dream Theater, but there's also quite a few more ambient, mellower sections included. Vocalist Eddy Borremans sounds a bit like the singer of Dark Suns from time to time, on other occasions reflecting Dream Theater's James LaBrie's vocal style. There's a lot of potential for this band and I'm rather curious what they can come up with for a follow-up release.

It's a shame such a nice album has to be sold for ?2,99 in the 'must-get-rid-of' shelves of a recordstore, but I'm not complaining myself, I have a good album for a cheap price.

I'm quite impressed with this album. NOVACT are from Holland and play an emotional and melodic brand of Prog-Metal. The vocals and lyrics are both outstanding. In fact the band I kept thinking of was EVERON. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that this album was produced by EVERON members Oliver Phillips and Christian Moos.The album was mastered by Eroc.The sound is crystal clear. The drummer here Martijn Peters now plays with STREAM OF PASSION.

"Sharply Condemned" opens with some atmosphere before the riffs come in followed by vocals.The guitar soars before 3 1/2 minutes and the vocals follow suit. "Hope And Fear" is quite heavy to open. It settles when the vocals come in. Contrasts continue. "Eternal Life" is a top three. When it kicks in it reminds me of ANATHEMA a lot. Then it settles with vocals a minute in. It kicks back in as contrasts continue. I like the guitar solo before 3 1/2 minutes. "Path Of Daggers" is another top three tune. It opens with a good heavy sound as vocals join in.This song reminds me of the STONE TEMPLE PILOTS. "So Help Me God" opens with waves of synths before drums and guitar take over. Vocals before 1 1/2 minutes as it gets heavier. Nice guitar solo 4 1/2 minutes in. Lots of emotion in this track.

"Flower" has some intensity early as vocals join in. It settles a minute in and the contrasts continue. Great sound 3 minutes in. "The Rider" opens with someone changing stations on the radio when they stop on THIS song then it kicks in heavily. Cool track. "Nothing Worth Fighting For" is a song that I like for the vocals and overall sound. It then gets EVERON-like as contrasts continue. Lots of passion. "Promises" is the other top three tune. It opens with some atmosphere before the drums come pounding in like a stampede before a minute. This is good.Vocals before 2 1/2 minutes as the onslaught continues. Some ripping guitar 5 minutes in. "Bad Religion" is heavy duty to open but it settles back some when the vocals come in. Does the singer not sound like Oliver from EVERON 3 1/2 minutes in ? Love the guitar solo that follows.

An excellent addition to your Prog-Metal collection, especially if your into the melodic and emotional variety.