PATHOSRAY

4.5 stars. I read an interview with the bass player Fabio who was asked If you could tour with 2 current bands of your choice who would you pick ? He said SYMPHONY X and KAMELOT. I think if your familiar with those two bands you will have a good idea of what kind of music is on PATHOSRAY's debut album.This record is at times bone crushing heavy and at other times very beautiful. More of the former though. A lot more. Haha. If this is the future of metal then the future is extremely bright. I'm going to run out of adjectives for this one. The singer Marco has such a vocal range from crystal clear to Bruce Dickinson at his most aggressive. Lots of double bass drumming, as well as heavy bass work from Fabio. Some beautiful keyboard work from Gianpaolo, and Luca shreds with the best of them on guitar.

"Free Of Doubt" is filled with beautiful piano melodies ending with synths that blend into "Faded Crystals". The synths are completely crushed by a punishing soundscape of heavy drums and bass while the piano plays over top. Vocals 1 1/2 minutes in as chunky bass accompanies,his voice starts to get angry. It mellows out somewhat with soaring vocals. The heaviness returns before more tasteful vocals with piano take over including a soaring guitar solo followed by a synth solo. The contrast of heavy and light continues. "Lines To Follow" hits the ground running but settles down with heavy bass. This contrast continues. Check out the drumming before a minute. Vocals are very Dickinson-like here. This is a good one. The background synths are a nice touch. This guy can sure sing. Lots of bottom end thanks to the killer bass work. The guitar is ripping it up. "Scent Of Snow" opens with a nice melodic soundscape before aggressive guitar comes in firing. It calms down when vocals come in. When he stops singing the guitar with deep bass take over. This contrast continues. This is a very accessible tune.

"Sorrow Never Dies" is dark,heavy and atmospheric to begin with. Reserved vocals come in.The bass is fat. The song becomes fuller 1 1/2 minutes in. Some powerful guitar 3 1/2 minutes in followed by a synth solo. Ripping guitar 6 minutes in, and check out the screaming vocals a couple of minutes later. "The Sad Game" is the longest track and my second favourite.This one is out of control. GARDEN WALL's Alessandro Seravalle chips in with vocals. Actually you could say he spits out the lyrics like a mad man. This is crushingly heavy,a wall of sound. The drummer and bass player stomp all over the soundscape,while the guitarist clears the way with his axe. "In Salicis Umbra" gives us time to recover after the last song. This is ballad-like with reserved vocals and piano. Good song. "Strange Kind Of Energy" opens with drums and bass. This is a pretty straight forward tune with vocals that remind me of Tate at times. The guitar breaks away before 4 minutes and sounds like IRON MAIDEN. "Emerald City" is a perfect way to end the album. This one is dark and heavy at times while at other times it brightens. For me this is the best vocal display on the whole album. The way he changes his tone is amazing. This is my favourite song on the album by the way. He sings with such passion on this one.

A must have for all you metal-heads. This is my favourite Metal album from 2007 along with RIVERSIDE's "Second Life Syndrome".

A good if derivative album.

What we have here is progressive-metal played in the most traditional style. Longer-than-usual songs, somewhat-irregular structures, extended instrumental sections and solos, prominent use of keyboards, and a heavy influence from the genre's classics. The music is well-played, with great technical proficiency and with an excellent recording.

The music is also very melodic. The band know how to incorporate subtle touches of melody in every song they play. The harmonic work is nothing out of the ordinary but it's competent. The choruses are fairly catchy, if not particularly memorable (most of them at least). Talking about the performances, without a question, the stars here are the drummer and mastermind Moni Bidin, the guitarist Luison and the keyboard player, Rinaldi. While I can't say that any of them are among the best the genre has to offer, they are skilled players and they even manage to dazzle at times throughout the album.

What's not to like about "Pathosray", the album? Probably what bothers me with this record is that the band's influences show too much through the music. I would even say that at times the group sounds like an exact replica of another. I'm talking about SYMPHONY X. If there's one band you'll be constantly reminded of while listening to this full-length is the legendary power-progressive outfit from the US. The riffing, the rhythms, the singing (Sandron sounds like a mix of FATES WARNING's Ray Alder and Sir Russell Allen from the aforementioned New Jersey band), everything is a little bit too similar to the group that gave us "The Divine Wings of Tragedy."

And the thing is, this band can do much more. That's evident in tracks like "The Sad Game", where PATHOSRAY still shows their influences but manage to mix that with original riffing that actually sounds more like CYNIC played in a traditional-progressive metal style (the entire song has some moments that remind us of Floridian metal music). That song is one of the highlights of the album, as is the great piano intro "Free of Doubt", the memorable "Faded Crystals" and the fast and heavy "Lines to Follow."

A very good band that has released a good debut album. Were it not for the too-obvious SYMPHONY X sound, I'd give "Pathosray" a solid 4-star rating. But we'll save that for next time, when I'm sure this Italian band will finally release the record we know they're capable of.