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New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
25.01.15
- Savage Machine: Through The Iron Forest (EP)
- Ruthless: They Rise
- Nightingale: Retribution
- Visigoth: The Revenant King
- Blind Guardian: Beyond The Red Mirror
- Darking: Steal The Fire
- Quartz: Too Hot To Handle
- Beardfish: +4626-comfortzone
18.01.15
- Illuminata: Where Stories Unfold
- Stormwitch: Season of the Witch
- Scanner: The Judgement
- Level 10: Chapter One
- Heywire: Heywire
- Air Raid: Point Of Impact
- U.D.O.: Decadent
- Jorn Lande & Trond Holter Present: Dracula Swing of Death
- Stargazery: Stars Aligned
- Orden Ogan: Ravenhead
- Kaipa: Sattyg
11.01.15
- Arcane: Known/Learned
- Major Denial: Minor Ways (EP)
- Shadowbane: Facing The Fallout
- Serious Black: As Daylight Breaks
- Alpha Tiger: Identity
- In Legend: Stones At Goliath
- Battle Beast: Unholy Savior
- Alogia: Elegia Balcanica
04.01.15
- District 97 with John Wetton: One More Red Night - Live In Chicago
- Winter In Eden: Court Of Conscience
- Greensleeves: Inertial Frames
- Rocket Scientists: Refuel
- Alarm Clock Conspiracy: Harlequin
- Appice, Carmine and Vinny: Drum Wars Live
- Scorpions: Blackout (SACD)
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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