THE FULLNESS OF TIME

I review this album as a big fan of vocalist Ray Alder (Fates Warning). I have to say that it is absolutely superb. Track one 'Threads' is outstanding - an excellent opener which features phenomenal drumming and (of course) sensational vocals. It does sound like a heavier version of Fates Warning due in no small part to the guitars of Nick van Dyk and Bernie Versailles, which give a more 'metal' feel. 'Parker's Eyes' is another strong track with excellent playing and features some 9/11 emergency services footage. It is followed by 'Scarred', yet again a powerful song which would be excellent live (play it loud). Next up is 'Sapphire' at just under 16 minutes. Ray Alder has never sounded better. The whole band carry this song effortlessly and the keyboards are excellent. It is an awesome track and worthy of the status : classic. The last four tracks make up 'The Fullness of Time Suite' (i) Rage (ii) Despair (iii) Release and (iv) Transcendence. 'Rage' begins with an old man's rant about death, disease, injustice, inhumanity, torture, anger, hate, pain and cruelty etc etc. It then launches into the music and in places reminds me of Iron Maiden, which is a good thing (honest!!). 'Despair' opens in piano mode and quickly accelerates into prog metal mode similar to Symphony X. 'Release' features some excellent keyboards and is pretty catchy and memorable (as are most tracks on here). Finally we have 'Transcendence'. this opens with desolate barren wind FX and piano - you can tell we are going to get some closure. Ray Alder was unknown to me until fairly recently, and that astounds me. He really is particularly good, he conveys emotion and feeling and has a presence. This album is essential - a prog metal tour de force.

3.4/5.0

A very interesting album! Certainly as good as Dream Theater's Scenes from Metropolis. But still, even if the whole album is good (except maybe for "Sapphire", which I personnaly think is too long and is somehow repetitive), at some point it's always the same thing, the same kind of distortion, the same voice, the same guitar riffs. That said, there is emotion on this album and it is very enjoyable to listen to. I clearly like listening to this album, but after 2 or 3 times I get bored (which is not the case with other prog-metal groups like Opeth, as an exemple).

Ok I am not primarily a prog-metal fan, and some fans may not like my review, but let's remember that 3 stars means that this album is « Good, but non-essential » and this is what I think about it. Clearly if you are deep into metal, you could give it easily 4 stars, but as for myself I think that just as much as this album is good there is some lack of imagination and some repetitive stuff there (not to talk about the "neo- prog" sound which I just can't stand).

4.5 stars.This is Nick Van Dyke's project, he's the guitarist, keyboard player and writes all the songs. He recruited two FATES WARNING alumni, Ray Adler and Bernie Versailes, as well as two PRYMARY members James Sherwood and Chris Quirarte. This may be the best I have heard Ray sing, while Nick and Bernie form a formidable twin lead guitar attack. I think Nick was wise in getting the rhythm section from PRYMARY, who obviously know each others moves very well.

"Threads" opens with thundering drums and a melodic riff, then piano and vocals enter the chaos. Powerful tune ! "Parker's Eyes" opens with gentle vocals and quiet guitars that doesn't last long as the song becomes very aggressive.There are some standout guitar melodies and lyrics, as well as some samples added. "Scarred" is brutally heavy, with pounding, relentless drums and the ever-present guitars that rip this song apart ! This is the heaviest song on the record.

"Sapphire" opens with acoustic guitars that build and build.This is an awesome song with fantastic vocals.The last four songs are four parts of "The Fullness of Time" section. Part one is "Rage", and you soon realize the speaker of the lyrics here has anger issues.The interplay of the instrumental music here is amazing. "Despair" is a highlight too, with great drums and vocals. "Release" has some nice piano melodies. "Transcendence" features wind blowing in the background with piano playing that leads to an uplifting conclusion to an excellent album.

As a prog metal fan i add to my collection this band and this album one month ago, never to late. From the firs note i realized this is a good one. Sometimes to me this album is an extinction of Fates Warning FWX, but in a heavyer way. As a whole is almost a prog metal masterpiece, each instrumentist plays at full capacity and the resoult is a magnific and quite complex (but not so complex to get bored), but if you take each piece sometime is kind of the same voice and the same guitar riffs. Redemption is a band to look into the future because is one of the best around in prog metal. The Fullness of Time Suite is mind blowing and the best here, my rate is 4 stars because they know how please a listner with this kind of music. If you enjoy band like Fates Warning, Symphony X, Magnitude 9, this is the answer. 4 stars

One of the heaviest Fates Warning albums out there

Guys, i'm sorry. I really know that this band does not sounds that much like Fates Warning, but the fact is that this is the only other band that Ray Adler sings and, in my opinion, his vocals are one important part of the FW's soul. So any band with his vocals WILL sound a little bit like Fates Warning, specially when the band he sings does progressive metal, though everything (from music to lyrics) were written by Nick Van Dyk.

In fact, if we threw out Ray's vocals, the band would have little resemblance (if none resemblance at all) with Fates Warning, mainly because Redemption's music is much heavier. I mean, usually music have tension / power passages, followed / preceded by relaxation / calm / release passages and the balance between both is what makes the music even, smooth (most of times, at least), round, making everything bond together. However, Redemption's music has much more tension, power, edgy parts than release parts, what makes the music uneven and unbalanced, something that, of course, counts rather negatively to the album in general.

About the songs, musicianship and other features, there are somethings i would like to state:

All musicians here are quite exceptional in their own instrument, though they are not very famous, probably because this is progressive metal and, like any other progressive genre, is quite demanding, instrumental-wise. The highlights in the instrumental session goes to Nick Van Dyk and his awesome guitar and keyboard work. Vocal-wise, Ray Adler, as always, did a very good job.

The songs are also very good generally, except the bonus track, which is only good, but fits considerably well in the album. The highlights go to Sapphire and to the The Fullness of Time suite. The song Parker's Eyes also deserves to be noted, because it is the only political song of the album, since it talks about the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the World Trade Center.

Grade and Final Thoughts

A very good album released by Redemption, The Fullness of Time brings some new things to the table. However, the ever-existing tension through the album seems to make it too uptight and somewhat odd. So, 4 stars.

After having been highly enthusiastic about Origins of Ruin I simply had to get this predecessor by Redemption. The reason is that this album even had a higher average than the already praised successor.

It could hardly be a disappointment and so it wasn't. First notes of the opening song already made that very clear. Threads is the one to get you started for a great treat, very energetic and spectacular. The only downside is that it's a bit short (4,25*).

Next one, Parker's Eyes starts more quiet but that's only in the first minute, after that the heavy guitars set in and make this another great rocker. Vocalist Ray Alder stands out in this song (4*).

Amongst many superb tracks on this album, the 3rd, Scarred, is my absolute favourite of all. Talking about energetic, this one surpasses all the rest in that sense. The rhythm guitar is absolutely sensational though the entire band is firing at all cilinders here. One of the best prog metal songs I ever heard. (5*).

Sapphire is a very long track for prog metal standard and my expectations were huge for this one. It's indeed a great song but falls short compared to previous one. As a progressive composition this one scores higher though (4,25*).

The rest of the album consists of the multi parted title track, a 23 minute magnum opus confirming the greatness of this album. The guys are ultimately showing what they are made of. The composition is even more symphonical than Sapphire which was more of a large metal track. The four parts of this epic also have some metal elements but altogether this is more of a standard progressive epic. Very good but not overwhelming I have to say. (4,25*).

With the title track they prove they have every right to be on PA should anyone have doubts about that. Those doubts could have crept in with the first three songs but Fulness of Time is truly progressive I feel. The question that remains is whether this album is better than Origins of Ruin. That's still a tough call for me. If it is, it's just slightly better but I would like to call it a tie. In numbers that's a generous 4 stars making Redemption one of the better prog metal bands in my book.

"The Fullness of Time" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Redemption. The album was released through Sensory Records in June 2005. Redemption started out as the brainchild of main composer/guitarist/keyboardist Nick van Dyk and the debut album "Redemption (2002)" sounded like a project more than a real band effort IMO. There were lots of prominent guest appearences on that album like Ray Alder from Fates Warning on vocals (who sang lead vocals on one song) and Jason Rullo from Symphony X on drums. It´s not an album that impressed me much, so I approached "The Fullness of Time" with some caution. As it turns out my fears were unfounded. "The Fullness of Time" sounds much more like a band effort compared to it´s predecessor and is overall a much stronger release. Ray Alder is now a full-time member of the band and lead guitarist Bernie Versailles (Agent Steel, Engine, Fates Warning) has also opted to become a full-time member. New members of Redemption are drummer Chris Quirarte (Prymary, Roswell Six) and bassist James Sherwood (Prymary).

The music on the album is progressive metal. It´s rather traditional with heavy guitar riffs, keyboards, a tight and technically skilled rhythm section, and a skillful vocalist with a strong voice. There are influences in the music from acts like Dream Theater, Fates Warning (...well it´s hard not to sound like them when you share lead singer) and Symphony X (only when the piano kicks in. But when it does there´s an audible similarity). So far... so good. Nothing out of the ordinary there. What is out of the ordinary on "The Fullness of Time", is that the compositions are of an extremely high compositional quality for the genre and the musicians are some of the more skillful players in that genre too. The development that´s taken place since "Redemption (2002)" is impressive. Many progressive metal acts tend to overuse keyboards, but the use of keyboards on "The Fullness of Time" is very tasteful and helps create the hauntingly beautiful and at times desperate dark atmosphere on the album. The guitar riffs are heavy and powerful but cleverly played and sophisticated when that is called for.

The choice of Ray Alder as the lead vocalist in Redemption could have been a dangerous one (comparisons to Fates Warning will forever cling to Redemption), but his performance here is so strong that any critique of the choice of him as the lead vocalist will be hard to justify. The new rhythm section is also a great new asset to the band. Drummer Chris Quirarte shines throughout the album and a comparison to Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Transatlantic, OSI...etc.) is not far from the truth.

There are 8 tracks on the 57:28 minutes long album. The first 4 tracks are individual tracks but the last 4 tracks ("The Fullness of Time Suite") seque into each other and form a concept. As mentioned above all tracks are of a high musical, lyrical and compositional standard. "Parker´s Eyes" with it´s TV-reporter samples from the September 11th terrorist attack is for example a stunning goose bump inducing piece. The sound production by prolific Danish producer Tommy Hansen (who used to be a musician himself and play with The Old Man & The Sea) is professional, powerful and clear. A very suiting sound for the music on this album. Overall "The Fullness of Time" is a top notch progressive metal release and a 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

Redemption has been becoming more and more famous; from being just a side project of Nick Van Dyk to a real full-time band featuring one of the most talented and famous vocalists of the progressive metal scene, Ray Adler from Fates Warning. With their second album, "The Fullness Of Time", the band does a huge step toward from their sound in the debut album, and create an excellent album.

Of course Nick Van Dyk called in for this band all excellent musicians, two from Fates Warning ( Ray Adler, mentioned above, and Bernie Versailles on lead guitar), two from the band Prymary (bassist James Sherwood and drummer Chris Quirarte), so it's easy to understand how ambitious this project should have been. The style is pretty much straight- forward progressive metal; long songs, memorable epic sounding melodies, fast shredding guitar solos alternated with keyboard solos, very skilled musicianship on the behalf of everybody, powerful vocals. Of course they are elements that make this band "unique"; Ray Adler's voice is kind of fragile and delicate sounding, despite singing without ever hesitating and being easily able to reach high notes. I though can't really give Ray Adler the medal for originality, since his voice has already been known from Fates Warning. The songwriting is one of the true shiny diamonds of this album; songs like "Sapphire", "Parker's Eyes", "Threads" and even the final suite "The Fullness Of Time" require a lot of talent and creativity, whether you like them or not. These are songs that every prog metal fan will like or even love, simply because they are the true and simple definition of the genre, even though sometimes they aren't quite as original or experimental than you would think.

"Threads" is a really awesome and gripping song, with many rhythm changes and with, of course excellent musicianship. Every thing about this song to me is good, there is not one bad moment in it. I couldn't describe the next three songs better than how I just described this first song, keeping though in mind that "Sapphire" has one of the most unbelievable metal performances of all time by a vocalist. Truly amazing work. The twenty one minute suite is where this album finds it's weak point, and I know many will disagree about this; Everything is just less captivating, less haunting, even though the experimentation is a little wider, especially in the last part "Transcendence".

But honestly I really think this is an album that should be considered a lot more than how it is now, because of it's amazing solid structure and great content.