ENIGMA

I honestly don't know a thing about Aeon Zen. My fellow writer at powerofmetal.dk wrote a glorious review of their new album "Enigma", and he gave it accolades to spare. Obviously, I had to give it a listen.

The first thing that came to mind when I heard this album was how uninspired it seems. Sure, you've got the standard metal riffs, the orchestration, the growling and (*shudder*) James Labrie-wanna-be vox, and the speedy drums. But, you know what? I'm tired of that. Those things are only interesting if the composition, themes, and lyrics are interesting, too. "Engima", however, doesn't really hit that mark with me. It seems like a bunch of riffing and boring orchestration smashed into a vacuum. No soul. No emotion.

Sure, there are some great moments and songs, and there are some truly groovy moments; but I don't feel like they save anything. This is just standard prog metal that embraces the technical side of prog, but not the soul of prog. Dream Theater? Symphony X? Etc? Etc? Etc? They have all gone stale. I want something original. Something emotive. Something inspired. I want something that is truly progressive.