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FREAKEYS

Freakeys

Progressive Metal


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CCVP
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars Who said supergroups can't make awesome albums?

Freakeys is one group I have never given any attention untill recently. I ignored them for almost 4 years because I was very skeptical about their album and thought that, with most of the band being formed by Angra members, it was some form of sub-par Angra, besides nobody could give a straight explanation on how do they sounded. To make matters worse, their album, by the time it was released, did not have a reasonable price at all (what was actually the biggest reason why I didn't had it so far)!

Recently, however, I found their album much cheaper than on its release time so, why not have it? Well, I have to recognize that I was very very wrong in almost every way. Firstly because they are nothing like Angra. At all. Freakeys have a display if progressive metal that is much more diverse, creative and open minded than Angra's more straighforward, but still interesting and progressive (at times), nevertheless, approach on heavy metal. Instead of the usual twin guitar stuff, all instruments interact together, almost as if they were in a constant question and answer motif, with one feeding the other, but without showing the need of having a specific soloist.

Secondly, as for the inability of describing them, now I can understad what was the problem. They have a distinct stanalone sound in the heavy metal scene. They definitely don't sound like anything here in Brazil and the band that sound the nearest as they do is Liquid Tension Experiment, but they are still quite different in many ways.

LTE was manly focused on spontaneity, improvisation, above the average playing abilities, the band have a distinct jazz influence and most songs are just single compositions. Freakeys, on the other hand, have all of their songs composed by one person, the keyboardist Fabio Laguna, with arrangements made by the other band members for their instruments, the band is, for the most part, a studio project (so no improvising around), the album have such a flow that it seems that all songs follow a line, a single train of thought and the music is more focused on heavy metal, but quite diverse and well worked heavy metal.

There are, however, some similarities between the bands. Both had, at some point in time three of their four members as members of the same band (Angra and Dream Theater), both have a jazzy flow or drive (though Freakey's jazz influence is much more subtle), both have incredibly diverse, interesting and exiting music and both have a powerful, strong and distinct signature sound.

Grade and Final Thoughts

Freakeys is one of that albums that you must have and that are destined to become a classic. Every song is well written, every musician recorded this in his prime (or, at least, in the apex of their careers) and the production is perfect, resulting in a extraordinary album. Whenever you have the oportunity, grab it with both hands and don't let go.

Report this review (#299330)
Posted Thursday, September 16, 2010 | Review Permalink
siLLy puPPy
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic
4 stars Known as the Brazilian version of Liquid Tension Experiment, the side project FREAKEYS was an instrumental band formed by members of Angra (Fabio Laguna on keys and Felipe Andreoli on bass) and Hangar (Aquiles Priester on drums and Eduardo Martinez on guitar). This project has so far only yielded one self-titled album that emerged in 2006. Technically this group has never disbanded so it's not out of the question that a second coming may someday emerge.

Formed in São Paulo, this quartet of musical magicians delivers a set of ten tracks that offer some of the most adept technical wizardry in the vein of not only Liquid Tension Experiment but also features a touch of djentish Animals As Leaders as well as the thrashy / deathened antics of bands like Dysrhythmia however a clue is given in the band name that this is a very keyboard oriented band with Fabio Laguna serving as the director.

Ironically this album was released on the Voice Music label and features ten voiceless tracks of pure instrumental wankery. Graced with an incessant flow of guitar riffage, bass and drum bombast and sped up Keith Emerson keyboard majesty, this energetic delivery of time signature rich tracks is what instrumental prog metal dreams are made of with absolutely no compromise yet never loses track of the emotional connections of strong melodic constructs.

The strength of FREAKEYS is not only the firm command of the technical chops but a brilliant sense of dynamics which allows a diverse procession through not only lightning blitzkrieg soloing sessions but also to bring sensual piano rolls into the mix as well as guitar-free moments where jazzy interludes provide an underpinning of consciousness which is unperceivable beneath the bombastic din of the guitar, bass and drums.

While the power metal energetic drive of both Angra and Hangar is in full effect, the band eschews the easy to classify cliches and instead delivers a hefty mix of progressive metal complexities with the energetic drive of power metal but also infuses some thrash metal chops as well as a bit of melodic death metal to the mix. The keyboard stabs definitely evoke a sense of high energy Dream Theater performances but in the end FREAKEYS employs a more organic progressive rock sound on the keyboards rather than anything typically heard in the context of metal.

This is certainly the product of a tight-knit collective of seasoned musicians who know their craft quite well and integrate the individuals parts into a satisfying amalgamation of excellently executed performances. Not only are the compositions perfectly played without relying too much on the technical chops but are paced perfectly so as to avoid the type of burn out one can experience that these types of super groups more often than not can produce due to the fact they fail to connect with the audience. Very nice this one!

Report this review (#2523068)
Posted Wednesday, March 10, 2021 | Review Permalink

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