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New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
22.02.15
- Various Artists: Stoned - A Psych Tribute to The Rolling Stones
- Doghouse Swine: Fearless (EP)
- Trauma: Rapture and Wrath
- The Storyteller: Sacred Fire
- M-Opus: 1975 Triptych
- Prowler: Stallions Of Steel
- Evil Invaders: Pulses Of Pleasure
- Bigfoot: Bigfoot (EP)
- Various Artists: Spacewalk - A Tribute to Ace Frehley
15.02.15
- Tempest: The Tracks We Leave
- Rothery, Steve: The Ghosts of Pripyat
- Furyon: Lost Salvation
- Sylvan: Home
- UFO: A Conspiracy Of Stars
- VCPS: VCPS (EP)
- Lords of the Trident: Frostburn
- Colossus: Drunk On Blood and The Sepulcher of the Mirror Warlocks
08.02.15
- Herman Rarebell & Friends: Herman's Scorpion Songs
- 6:33: Deadly Scenes
- THEO: The Game Of Ouroboros
- Seconds Before Landing: II
- Odin's Court: Turtles All The Way Down
- Going To The Sun: Going To The Sun
- Cailyn: Voyager
- Hekz: Caerus
01.02.15
- Black Star Riders: The Killer Instinct
- Aktor: Paranoia
- Whyzdom: Symphony For A Hopeless God
- China Sky: II
- Eclipse: Armageddonize
- Issa: Crossfire
- Aura: Noise
- Wind Rose: Wardens of the West Wind
- Neal Morse Band, The: The Grand Experiment
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.
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