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Distorted Harmony - Utopia CD (album) cover

UTOPIA

Distorted Harmony

 

Progressive Metal

3.94 | 224 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Evolver
Special Collaborator
Crossover & JR/F/Canterbury Teams
4 stars This album was quite a surprise. I'm not usually so taken with prog metal bands, but these guys transcend the genre by using a generous dose of great symphonic prog.

Oddly enough, the album reminds me of the Universal Studios theme park ride "The Curse Of The Mummy". On this attraction, the riders are lulled into a false sense of complacency when the vehicle they are in rolls lazily through animated scenes of the inside of a pyramid. Then suddenly, all hell breaks loose, the car drops backwards onto a track, the the riders are propelled though a high speed roller coaster ride. At various points, the ride appears to be over, only to have the room burst into flames, followed by another coaster segment.

Well that's the feeling I get by this up and cvoming Israeli band. The album begins with a keyboard intro, and grand symphonic prog, which lulls you into the belief that this is going to be a work of fine symph prog. But suddenly the sound turns to metal. But this is not the cliched metal that tends to bore me away from multiple listens. This is highly progressive metal, with plenty of rhythmic twists and turns, and tonal oddities. At times I hear passages that make me think they are playing a stereotypical metal riff, but every time they jar the stereotype away with some astounding changes.

The entire album is a wonderful trip in this sense. Back and forth they travel between metal and symphonic prog, and all with virtuoso precision.

While I enjoy the entire album, I'd have to say my favorite track is Blue, which reminds me very much of one of my favorite heavy prog bands, Altered State.

This has to be one of the top ten album of this year.

Evolver | 4/5 |

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