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Assignment: Closing The Circle

Melodic Progressive Metal

4.0/5.0

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Massacre Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 06.07.2016

It takes them a few years, but Germany's Assignment eventually gets around to recording a new album. They return with their fourth album Closing The Circle, now signed with Massacre Records, and along with a new bass player, Heiko Spaarmann (Poverty's No Crime) and, perhaps, a permanent lead singer in Diego Valdez (Helker). (The previous album had several vocalists.)

Assignment

What hasn't changed for Assignment is their exploration of melodic and progressive power metal. Yet this is not overly complex stuff. The usual suspects occur with tempo and time signature changes, and particular instruments offering representative solo parts. The band's goal is not to confuse you or leave you perplexed, but to demonstrate some creativity and entertain. The glue that holds everything together is Assignment's inherent commitment to melody and groove which allows the arrangements to be both intriguing and accessible.

Good examples are found within Chemical Healing, notably the shift at the midpoint with the guitar solo; Variaxis, a vocal duet that turns on the vocals, but shifts between heaviness and lightness from piano and acoutstic guitar; or Genetic Slavery which seems to move along three parts, the vocal, guitar, and drum lines, the latter two propeling the melody and groove.

Something more ambitious comes with the closing two tracks, Entering The Universe and Between Parallel Worlds. Both are notable for their symphonic starts, which makes you wonder if the songs are partners. The former song is heavier with great speed and includes some death vocals cast against some female vocals. But at the start of latter song, Between Parallel Worlds, the orchestration led by some bright piano sound nearly cinematic, before it leans into traditional melodic power metal, less on the prog side.

Overall, I liked the album. Closing The Circle finds Assignment in fine form, essentially in stride, and continuing to create intriguing and entertaining melodic progressive power metal. Recommended.

Assignment - Genetic Slavery

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Closing The Circle finds Assignment in fine form, essentially in stride, and continuing to create intriguing and entertaining melodic progressive power metal. Recommended.

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Three years have passed since Sweden's Cruzh dropped their second long-player, Tropical Thunder, also introducing their new singer, Alex Waghorn. Now the band returns with The Jungle Revolution ... [ Read More ]