THE IMMUNITY ZONE

To be honest, the only thing that really attracts me to this album is the quasi-epic, Veil of Illumination. However, I enjoy that piece enough that it keeps Andromeda on my radar. However, you should be warned that there are plenty of moments containing fairly standard, derivative progressive metal herein.

Veil is very reminiscent of Dream Theater style metal, but with the bass and drums sounding very muddy, and by extension, not very good, although the actual rhythms and syncopation are for the most part good. Parts not involving the main theme and chorus--which I have to admit are extremely catchy--often remind me of some of the more adventurous parts of Metropolis Part I. The highlight for me is the Petrucci-like wailing solo near the middle over synth strings, maybe even reminding me just a bit of Riverside. I love wailing guitar--and I'm a total sucker for this stuff!

Overall, the rating is driven by the epic. 17 minutes of good prog is worth that in my book, although you may reasonably disagree. Just don't expect too much from the rest.