- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
12.01.13
- Chastain: Surrender To No One
- Deliverance: Hear What I Say
- Salem: Forgotten Dreams
- Rustfield: Kingdom of Rust
- Boston: Life, Love & Hope
- Bloodgood: Dangerously Close
- Rhapsody Of Fire: Dark Wings of Steel
- Starsoup: Bazaar of Wonders
11.25.13
- Galysh, Adrian: Tone Poet
- Human Fortress: Raided Land
- Dragonhammer: The X Experiment
- Silent Voices: Reveal The Change
- Armory: Empyrean Realms
- Crystal Ball: Dawnbreaker
- Switchblade: Heavy Weapons
- Lunar Explosion: Lunar Explosion
- Almah: Unfold
- Big Guns: Down But Not Out
- Aeon Zen: Self Portrait (EP)
11.17.13
- Split Heaven: The Devil's Bandit
- Royal Hunt: A Life To Die For
- Roadfever: Wolf Pack
- Revolution Road: Revolution Road
- Benedictum: Obey
- Eat The Gun: Stripped to the Bone
- Hell: Curse and Chapter
- Angelica: Thrive
- Fate: If Not For The Devil
- Shatner, William: Ponder The Mystery
Ashent: Inheritance
Progressive Metal
3.5/5.0
With 2009's Deconstructive, Italian metal band Ashent attempted to break from European power metal mold with a more progressive sound. Largely, they succeeded, although it was sometimes uneven. This year's Inheritance builds upon that foundation as Ashent tries press farther into the realm of progressive metal.
Ashent: putting the big guy up front.
Again, generally, they have succeeded. Some of the success comes from a new lead vocalist, Titta Tani, who is a quite versatile singer and arranger. Additionally, Ashent have made their arrangements more technical, even complex, adding sequencers, synths, some sax inserts, orchestral parts, and choirs.
Sometimes, however, this attempt at invention and complexity blows back on them. Songs like Eve, Shipwrecked Affair, and Spider's Nest are so thick that it sounds like there are several songs overlapping one another in the same arrangement. Some of this may be due to the mix, but I doubt it. Conversely La Danzatrice Scalza has the complete opposite feeling. It's nearly perfect prog, interestingly, but not severely, technical, and simply delightful to the ears. Actually, Ashent seems to better when they're not trying to fill a song with a trick in their bag. Renaissance and the closing instrumental Labyrinthique are entertaining in their lack of complexity.
Yet, overall, Inheritance Inheritance continues to deepen the Ashent's exploration into more complex progressive metal, but sometimes with mixed results. Recommended.
Tweet