ALLEY

Just like any other successful metal act, Opeth has many followers in their wake. It appears to me that while Dream Theater set the standard for Prog Metal in the 90s, Opeth takes a big part of the cake from the second half of the 00's onwards. I have just scratched the surface of it but with recent bands such as Pressure Points, Gwynbleidd and Alley the tendency seems undeniable.

All these Opeth-clones - allow me the condescending tone - seem to be inspired by one particular Opeth album. In case of Alley this is clearly Blackwater Park, and while I was initially disappointed with the lack of proper new ideas, I've come to appreciate it for what it is: a largely derivative but still decent Progressive Death Metal album with varied compositions and an excellent melancholic atmosphere. In the future, they will need to break away from the path that Opeth has trodden before them. Only the last track has a couple of guitar parts and effects that sound new.

My main gripe lies with the vocals. Andrey Evtugin has the same deep growl as Akerfeldt but does not succeed in varying it enough; it is too monotonous and makes the album drag on too long. The clean vocals (similar to early Akerfelt cleans) are still underused. It doesn't spoil the listening enjoyment but still, I'm left with a feeling that the full potential of the music has not been fully realized.

In short, a promising album from a talented gang of Opeth lovers. Fans of 'Blackwater Park' and 'My Arms Your Hearse' should totally dig this. Looking forward to a next release where I hope they will dare to do more non-Opethian stuff as on the closing track.