From the second the first few notes enter my ear, I cannot stop listening, and how much I get distracted, I keep on being drawn back to the melodic aspect of this CD. The first song, immediately is the titlesong “Shade of Fate”. The drums keep a nice pace without sounding dull. All falls perfectly into place and the vocals in this song are not far from astonishing. With calm parts at its time and the extreme lengths and ranges when needed are all present and surely add up to a perfect start of this album. Also, this songs just makes me realise again how versatile and essential keyboards can be in music. “Follow Me” is the next track on the album. Beautiful tunes lead into the first verse of the song, and here I meet my first piece of discontent of the album. Maybe its because the vocals in the first song were so good that I somehow get the feeling this time it take too much effort to produce the sound it’s producing. The keyboard solo’s in this song are on the other hand most welcome, and do their job perfectly. All in all, this song is not bad, though it cannot compete with the titlesong. Next is “Closer to You”, which surprises my greatly after a short piano intro. The epic blasts are great, and followed by the slower guitar parts this makes way for the vocals I adored so much in the first song. It’s for sure another one to add to my list of favourite songs on this album. After the fourth song “Trace to Find (A Day Without Rain)” it’s more than clear to me, that if I were to state every single musical detail I could find, it would take me ages, and still would I forget half.

These six musician have certainly put down what could go down into history as a great progressive album, without having to fear anything from the bigger names in the scene. It’s not surprising in the least that they’re opening a show for the legendary Helloween. The fifth track “Spectastral” is an instrumental song which’ feeling is almost described by the name it’s been given. Almost solely consisting of great solo-work this track certainly shows the technical abilities of all the musicians, except for the vocalist in this case. The songs “The Final Line” and “Why” follow that path set by the first few songs perfectly and add another few progressive aspects to the album. I must say that this is one of the most versatile albums I’ve seen for quite a while. Another instrumental track is found in the name of “Mindtrip”, which is a more epic song, which is slightly overdone in my honest opinion, but would certainly be missed if absent. It even slightly reminds me of Danny Elfman’s work, only slightly darker. To give an idea of what Pantommind is capable off they’ve also added a more ballad-like song “Knocking on my Door”. And they prove once again that they’re capable of pulling of such a thing. Two songs to go, and I must admit that I wouldn’t mind hearing another 50 minutes of Pantommind. “After Rain” perfectly makes way for the outro “Orpheus Whisper” quickly combines all the epic aspects of Pantommind in a two-minute masterpiece.

Pantommind surely have put themselves on the map in the world of metal, and next time I hear about a metal band from Bulgaria I will not give you a strange face. Make sure you check out this band, because they have a lot to offer to the world of progressive metal.

written by Roy Boeren

Playing time: 50.03