UTOPIA

If I'd tell you "Utopia" is the best progressive metal album to ever come from Israel, it wouldn't mean much. But it is, and it's also very well produced and played. Yoav Efron's project has all the right elements in place: great riffs, great melodies, great arrangements, great structures.

Distorted Harmony's godfathers are Dream Theater and Pain of Salvation. But DH don't try to imitate this two great bands. The vocalist Misha Soukhinin has his own personality. The music of DH is gentler and more orchestrated than DT's, and not as funky and dramatic as POS's. Fans of Symphony-X's classic work will find this album pretty attracitve.

The best track on this album is the title track, "Utopia". The pessimistic lyrics work fine, and the singer really tears his heart out on this one. Although it's a debut album, it sounds like a very mature band. There's not a weak moment - all the tracks are well thought-out, upgraded to a commercial level. No fills, no drones, no time wasting, no boring parts, no "skip this" minutes. It's all written carefully, with the right mix and state-of-the-art mastering work.

For the international market, albums like "Utopia" can be easily missed - there is so much new music out there, and so little time to absord it all. However, the fact is that this is a free download, so there's no accessibility dilemma. It's one of the best free downloads I've heard in the last 5 years, not just in the progmetal realm. Most free albums are amateurish, but this one sounds like it's on the same league as Symphony-X, Transatlantic, The Flower Kings and Riverside.

I gave it 4 stars because there wasn't a 3.5 stars option. The fact that it's free to download plays in its favor. Who buys real CD's today, anyway? there's no room in the house for this stuff anymore.

One last note about the English accent of the soloist: it's not bad at all. It might fool Europeans, but not the British or the American listeners. Anyway, I should sum this review up with the following words: this album is great fun for anybody who likes clean progressive metal, without the "black"/"negative" metal attitude. I've enjoyed it for a long time.