THE EDGE

*Sighhh* , alas with metal prog. The same old same old cliché of 5 guys dressed in black, sporting black clothes but smiling on the picture, the drummer is bald and has a goatee, the singer is overdoing it and almost ruins an album already confused in stories about dragons and quests for holy something?

Freakin' tired of all that crap?

I sure am. It kinda draws me away from that section.

Why can't a metal-prog band sounds anything but DreamTheater / Maiden/ Malmsteen ? Augh, it's getting annoying.

But, this time I must admit it's a change of the ordinary steak-potato-bread meal that metal usually serves us. I must admit that anticipating a band by it's name is risky. But with a band named Eternity X, I feared the worst stereotypes. But this is where I get slapped on the kisser with a spiked glove. This has strenght, intelligence and actually going somewhere. We have to give credit to Eternity X, they keep us focused on melodies and the disc is not a yawning factor, surprisingly even after 70 minutes of, let's not fear words, very acceptable work. This record has a strong will to plunge the listener into a gothic/opera atmosphere and at many moments, almost vampiric. I believe the term Néo- classical is appropriate. It feels really refreshing after Threshold, Dream Theater and so on.

I really tried not to laugh when I heard the singer squeezing personnal body parts to reach something that should be opera (in the Edge part II). After a few listens, I even hummed the opera parts without feeling the wave of shame due to an overdose of cheesyness.

The keyboard works is really the icing on the cake that gives the whole darkish theme to the songs. The guitar/bass interplay is reminding the best years of the Iron Maiden, which will surely please the nostalgics.

In fact, take off the cliché wrapping and you have something 100% original. Eternity X do not sound like any band I heard so far. And that only is rare. Very enjoyable and a great change of concept with some addictive melodies...slow or heavier.