|
|
|
|
These guys from Ohio (United States) have a really big
potential in my
opinion. With this 66 minutes long album -which happens to be
their
debut
full length after the 1998 EP "Hands of Time" - they are only
presenting
part of what they are -potentially- able to offer. I will
explain why I
say
that. They play a combination of classic, powerful metal
with many
progressive metal elements. To me it is very obvious that when they
stay
rooted in the classic metal land they do ever so well. The truly
excellent
sound recording and mix help a lot to bring out the power that
they
possess
and this is also when their very good singer happens to be at
his best.
They
also sound very natural and everything flows nicely and
sounds intense
and
perfect. Then they mix the progressive metal elements in
the
arrangements
and the song structures and this is when they do more harm
than good.
Why do
they feel that they have to do that, in the degree that
they do it,
when
everything worked so nicely in the first place, I really
cannot
understand.
I would not object to listening to some progressive
metal elements, but
why
do they feel that they have to "enrich" their
sound that much, when the
foundations are already solid? Can we not do
without these "cosmetics"?
In
my opinion they are overcomplicating things
unnecessarily and at
several
moments they end up tiring the listeners, more
than excite them.
(Especially
when your songs are quite long and the length
of the album is 66
minutes,
you really have to be careful with things like
that). Sometimes -not
just
with music, but with many other daily
activities- you have to keep it
simple, because this is when you are at your
best. It is my strong
belief
that if Archetype do that, they can become
major players in the Heavy
Metal
(Classic / Power) scene and satisfy fans
that are looking for the
quality
that bands like Crimson Glory have
presented in classic albums like
"Transcendence". (In fact several moments
of Archetype's album reminded
me
of "Transcendence" for some reason. I
have a feeling that in the future
Archetype will realize that they are
destined for success in the
"Classic /
Power Metal land", because first
of all this is where they sound best
as
musicians (I have to bring the
example of their vocalist again, but
really
in the powerful stuff suits his
voice is far better than in the
progressive
stuff) and as composers and
because I think that the fans of that genre
are
the ones that will
appreciate their music. I can't really see them
having
any real appeal
with the Progressive crowd. With an already very high
level
of
musicianship, mostly mid paced songs and thankfully without the
cheesy
choirs and the constant hyper speed double bass drums that some
power
metal
bands, they do work like a well-oiled machine at times. What
they need
to
make sure is that they work like a well-oiled machine ALL the
time.
| Tracklist |
1. Final Day 2. Hands Of |
|
Time 3. Dawning 4. Dissension's Wake 5. Inside Your |
|
Dreams 6. Premonitions 7. Visionary 8. Arisen 9. |
|
The Mind's Eye 10. Years Ago |
: 66 minu
| Buy other Acrchetype albums |
