EYES OF THE ORACLE

The first time I knew about progressive metal was when I heard Dream Theater "Awake" for the first time, especially from the opening track "6:00" which was quite complex for my ears. However, Dream Theater has successfully created a music with great harmony so that makes me impressed with the composition. Through that album Dream Theater presents a complex music with fast speed but in a good melody. Since then my music horizon expanded and I explored other bands like Angra, Kamelot, Symphony X, Fates Warning, Helloween, Rhapsody etc. They have their own unique style and incomparable one to another but all of them share the same energy: metal!

When I got this Power of Omens "Eyes of The Oracle" couple of months ago, I found it very hard to digest the music. First off, the music is quite raw and has its rough-edge compositions that are not quite accessible with most ears. I understand that there are influences of Fates Warning in the music and Queensrych in vocal department. But, the total music delivery is different.

Second, the music harmony is something very difficult to digest because most of their compositions are complex. Each musician seems like playing their instruments in different direction. This might be okay if the tempo is medium. With fast tempo, each musician seems like losing their control with their instrument. If this is something as complex as Gentle Giant, for example, that is okay because Gentle Giant music is quite moderate in tempo. The situation is even worse with this album because the recording quality - in terms of mixing - is quite sharp and rough. It makes a bit unpleasant listening to it.

The opening track "Inner Voices" (1:14) is quite attractive and makes excellent impact as a prog met album But the next track "Alone I stand" (5:27) demonstrates their music complexities as well as how the music harmonies are not well maintained. Each player seems like losing their control over their roles. If you are interested in the virtuosity of each individual player, you might be okay with this album You can then enjoy "The fall" (12:04) which demonstrates the skills of individual player clearly. You can even hear how powerful the lead singer's voce is, especially during high register notes.

The epic "Test of wills" (19:55) is quite interesting to enjoy as it contains wider music horizon with multi styles. The structure is not really straight forward. The vocal section starts with low register notes and he moves brilliantly into higher resister notes, confidently. The existence of keyboard at background provides symphonic nuance. The drum sound is actually quite annoying and I think this is a problem of mixing instead of lack of skills. The acoustic guitar fills in the middle of the track is really brilliant.

Overall, despite the downsides, I think this album still have some strength points like its richness of textures and varied styles in the composition. I only recommend those of you who love progressive metal with some jazzy touch. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW