SNOWFALL ON JUDGMENT DAY

A good album, yes, though nothing that really sets it apart from the majority of other progressive metal albums.

As someone only somewhat familiar with Redemption (listened to The Fullness of Time, saw them live once), I must say that before I listened to my promo copy I forgot that they are exactly a progressive metal band. I mean, I knew it, but somehow in my mind they were a lot less focused on crunching guitars and replacing complex song structures with simple noodle excess. For the target style, they are absolutely on mark. They have enough Dream Theater and Symphony X in their sound to appeal to those fans, while adding their own touch to whatever they play. This is no prog metal clone band, believe me, but neither are they that different from many other giants of the scene. They put a solo or four in every song just like their peers. And what with the simultaneous arrival of the stunning new Shadow Gallery release Digital Ghosts, I find myself dramatically underwhelmed with an album that in all likelihood, in another context, might just blow my mind. Hard to say, but how I hear it is how I hear it.

The opener Peel is a fast-paced track with not too shabby of a chorus. Aside from that, it's pretty much a familiar song. Walls opens much stronger, with some nice percussion riding over a solid bass line. The clean guitar parts sound quite nice over the traditional rhythm crunch, and the vocals once more find themselves the best part of the song. Though not as strong as Shadow Gallery, Redemption are no slackers at crafting quality melodies. Unfortunately, the noodling that many fans love but this reviewer has gotten a bit weary of makes another wild appearance. Leviathan Rising takes plenty of quotes from V for Vendetta, and also features a structure very similar to something recent from Symphony X. The drums are quite well performed, but the melodies and the obsessive chugging guitar take away from its potential impact. Black and White World starts much more promisingly, with a clever piano piece. Soon, however, the standard prog metal is back in power, and the vocals for a second song in a row do not deliver enough melody to the song to take it much above the median. The trend on Snowfall on Judgment Day is that none of the songs are below average, but little is above average.

Unformed also starts quietly but quickly returns to the same prog metal sound of the first five songs. I have no problem with prog metal, but the exact same guitar, bass, and drum sound for that many songs in a row can get a bit wearying. The chorus on this track is pretty pleasing, but it is at this song that metal fatigue starts to set in (maybe not for everybody, but by this point I figure my review is already not objective, so why not?). The same intro/verse/chorus/verse/solos/chorus/outro feel exists in basically every song here. Keep Breathing starts out quite melancholic and emotional, definitely an improvement, but only a few minutes go on before the heavy distortion comes in and overpowers the beautiful piano work. An unfortunate series of increasingly heavy twists turn what could be the highlight thus far into just another one of the similar tracks, albeit with a very nice extended intro. Another Day Dies starts with a nice surprise: James LaBrie on guest vocals! I might have my problems with Dream Theater, too, but these two men make for a terrific vocal duet. And, truthfully, this song has James on a much stronger melody than anything on Black Clouds and Silver Linings did for him this same year. It's another heavy and fast metal track with much noodling, but here finally the vocals push a middling track beyond its simplistic construction and execution.

What Will You Say is much softer than the previous, though of course the metal sound is still quite overpowering throughout. The vocals are chilling and the chorus is brilliant, however, pushing this song to the second above average piece on the album. The noodly instrumental section in the center even fits the song very well! A strange thought, considering the melancholy feel of the lyrics and the high speed intensity of the soloing. Fistful of Sand, however, drops the strength of the past few tracks and jumps straight into shallow prog metal staleness. At least the album's conclusion, the long form Love Kills Us All/ Life in One Day, carries a bit more weight and purpose to its sound. This track ends the album on a high note, perhaps its highest. It begins slowly, gently, which is a very nice changeup at this point. Some beautiful piano enters in at around three minutes in, and begins turning this track into something like what the album has been hyped to be. Though the thickly distorted guitars once more overpower all the rest of the instrumentation, it at least remains interesting during this instrumental buildup. The second half, while still mostly drowned in heavy guitars, has some lovely vocals and well-conceived composition.

I might sound like I'm coming down pretty hard on this album despite a fairly average rating. The album is pretty average, but that does mean it's better than half of those out there. If you are a big fan of prog metal, I bet you'll love this release. If you like a bit more dynamic music less noodle-centric, then this album might be a bit more hit and miss. A good release, but absolutely nothing here that we haven't run into a number of times before, and since I'm such a pain about pushing at least a couple of boundaries with music, a safe release like this one completely fails to blow my mind.

Blessed with two promo albums to review, I put this one aside until I had finished the Shadow Gallery album. Again, most of it was due to my relative newness to Prog Metal. In both cases, I started by questioning my own prejudices or stereotypes vis a vis the genre.

In both cases, I also found much to please most prog fans.

Yes, you will find the heavy guitars at the forefront, with the shred solos. Yes, the Dream Theater influences are there. Same as with the trash metal progressives like Metallica, Megadeth and in some cases Iron Maiden. The first two metal giants you can hear in Snowfall on Judgment Day's riffs & guitar tones. The latter, just in fleeting instrumental moments that I find hard to pinpoint - Alder's vocal style makes me forget the Maiden comparison before I can think of what Maiden it reminds me of :-).

But after a few listens, for some reason, the album brought to mind a prog metal version of Frost* (Neo Prog Metal ?).

Is this good or bad ? Well, while not as inventive or original sounding as Frost*, Redemption does come across as skilled at composing melodies, but without wallowing in mellowness. And they can then drop the gloves and wallop you with a great riff. Much heavier than Frost* mind you. But still enjoyable as being part of the song.

All, and all , well worth checking out any samples you can find online. 30 second snatches should provide a good indication for those who are starting to search out prog metal. There are a few out & out Prog Metal songs, with the progressive trash guitar dominating. Fistful of Sand wouldn't seem out of place on a latter day Megadeth album. And unlike Shadow Gallery, I can't tell a true symphonic fan that they would enjoy this through & through. But if you're one that can imagine the guitar part played by synths or mellotron, you might appreciate this.

So not a masterpiece of prog by any measure, but surely a very competent piece of work that should interest fans of melodic metal, and keep Redemption fans hungry for another album.

Well I wasn't really expecting a whole lot with REDEMPTION's latest "Snowfall On Judgment Day", mostly because "The Orgins Of Ruins" for me was a big step down from "The Fulness Of Time". Well lets just say the boys are back ! And in a big way. I should have known better with all the glowing reviews from Metal fans around the "Net" but I was still a little skeptical. Interesting that the band thanks Mike Portnoy and Mark Zonder in the liner notes. REDEMPTION opened for DREAM THEATER this past summer and they have James LaBrie guesting on vocals on the heaviest track.Travis Smith did the cool art work on the album cover. They've added a keyboardist which allows Nick more time to focus on the lead guitar although he still adds some keys. Bernie Versailles is the other lead guitarist and he along with Nick form a formidable dual attack. One of my favourite drummers Chris Quirarte is back on the drums, and he's much more dominate then he was on their last album. Ray continues the vocal style like on the last album where he seems to sing calmly even when all hell is breaking loose all around him (haha). That's why the LaBrie sung track really stands out 'cause James sings with such passion.

"Peel" has such an amazing intro then it kicks in heavily. Incredible sound ! Vocals 2 minutes in. Check out Chris' drum work ! Ripping guitar 4 1/2 minutes in. "Walls" opens with drums as guitar then synths join in. Vocals after a minute. The drums dominate before 4 minutes then it's the guitars turn. "Leviathan Rising" opens with creepy sounds followed by bass then drums and a full sound. An all out assault ! Ray cries "Leviathan rising !" Piano then joins in then heaviness after 3 minutes. Blistering guitar follows. "Black And White World" opens with piano as it starts to build when bass and drums join in. It's kicking pretty hard before 1 1/2 minutes. Vocals 2 minutes in. The drums are relentless. It settles some before 6 1/2 minutes as deep bass, piano and drums lead the way. Then it kicks back in with vocals. I'm smiling right now. "Unformed" kicks in heavily at 30 seconds as vocals join in. This is intense. The tempo picks up before 4 minutes. Hell ya ! The guitar is lighting it up.

"Keep Breathing" features some atmosphere as reserved vocals arrive. Heavy drum outbursts before 2 1/2 minutes then Adler lets go. A killer soundscape follows. Amazing ! The drumming is outstanding. "Another Day Dies" opens with guitar as thunderous bass and drums follow. James comes in with emotion vocally. This is a barn burner. All hell breaks loose 3 minutes in. "What Will You Say" is mellow with piano, acoustic guitar and laid back vocals. It kicks in fuller before a minute. Nice. This becomes a powerful song. Great tune ! "Fistful Of Sand" has this stampede of drums and bass as heavy guitars join in. Vocals after a minute. This is ZERO HOUR heavy. "Love Kills Us All / Life In One Day" is a fantstic closing track where we get it all really.

I really think they've outdone themselves here. I need to re-listen to "The Fulness Of Time" but there's no question this is in that same league, only better.

Impressing, little (for some, big) prog metal album, bringing (if not peace, then at least) harmony. Mild heavy sound (nothing unpleasant) and cherry on the top of the cake - beautiful cover. Note that there's melody similar to Dream Theater's "Another Day" in middle part of What Will You Say, especially strange because James LaBrie himself is providing vocals (I recognized him in Ayreon's 0100110, I instantly knew it's him now) in Another Day Dies (which brings doubts because the title is very similar to my previous thoughts).

This album is very atmospheric. If not real orchestra, synths provides sound faithful enough to resemble one. It's metal, (third strange similarity), Dream Theater type (sounds like them, just without characteristic vocal, but performance, how the handle their instruments, it's good enough).

4(-), Marty is pleased by these sounds. Simply, atmospheric metal.

Within a year this great band has moved up my personal ranking of prog metal bands to one of the very highest positions. What I like most about them is their energetic approach and each time I play one of their albums they lift up my spirit and almost give me some sort of boost. And added to these already important facts they also compose highly melodic and catchy songs (not always a plus in progworld but within the prog metal scene I usually prefer this feature).

And with this latest release they again don't disappoint me one bit. At first few listens I thought it was a bit more of the same compared to what they have done so far but I have this feeling more often when I listen to a new album. In the end it's also a matter of getting used to the new songs and give them time to sink in. I know all their albums by now and I have to say they are all pretty equal in quality, at least where the compositions are concerned. Yes, even the debut pleased me a lot even though the average here on PA might suggest it's by far their least output. Where style is concerned this Snowfall on Judgment Day is right in between Fulness of Time and Origins of Ruin. The latter was a little bit tame for their abilities where FoT was extremely energetic. SoJD is a bit closer to FoT but has the same catchy melodies as songs like Memories and Fall on You, two great songs from OoR.

So all in all another great release by Redemption, most certainly recommended for their fans but prog metal fans who never heard of them should actually be a bit ashamed and run to the store or wherever and buy this album immediately to check it out. I could even reward it with the full score but lack of originality prevents me from doing so. It's the only danger and thread for this band in the future. On the other hand I would be disappointed if they would leave their great recent style which suits me just about 100%. So yes I'm pretty ambivalent about this aspect but right now I think I will be enjoying this album for quite some time. Best songs are Leviathan Rising, Keep Breathing and Love kills us all/Life in One Day but none of the songs is less than very good I have to say.