FATES WARNING: Long Day Good Night (PROGRESSIVE METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Fates Warning is one of those who built a style ("Awaken The Guardian"), gave it its letters of nobility ("No Exit"), refined it ("A Pleasant Shade Of Grey") and transcended it with the superb voice of Ray Adler. The band had made an indelible mark in the memories with "A Pleasant Shade Of Grey", when its refined music created emotion. The band releases "Long Day Good Night", a new record that synthesizes the facets that made its reputation.

The album rests on precise and impeccable rhythmic bases with pure tones, on complex stacked layers ('Alone We Walk'), on syncopated parts ('The Way Home') or on a melancholic heaviness ('Scars', 'Glass Houses'). He is bathed in introspective moods from 'A Pleasant Shade Of Grey', especially in the soft introduction of 'The Destination Onward'. As on 'Awaken The Guardian' or 'Parallels', this softness gives the illusion of simplicity and ease. The long track 'The Longest Shadow Of Day' is a marvel of precision that starts with a beautiful clear guitar and a solitary bass. It is the voice that links the disparate elements: even though the track has many variations, the vocals are the cement that consolidates its parts. 'Shuttered World' and 'Alone We Walk' impose aggressive riffs and a chorus that again leaves a lot of room for vocals that charms the listener.

A sincere emotion emerges from the tracks. 'Now Come The Rain', 'The Way Home', 'Under The Sun' remind us of 'The Eleventh Hour' and the brilliance of its arpeggios. The purity comes from the beautifully crafted six-string melodies, sometimes bordering on shred, and the tracks are touching when the guitar alone supports Ray's brilliant voice. Progressive variations are present with changes of rhythm, breaks and accelerations, delivering climates that are meant to stir the emotions. Thus the atmosphere is sometimes soft ('Alone We Walk'), sometimes it carries multiple colors ('The Destination Onward'), then harmonized it gives rise to an immense feeling of majesty ('Now Comes The Rain', 'The Way Home').

Between simplicity and complexity, "Long Day Good Night" is a very beautiful album. Ray Adler's vocal is the soul and the foundation of the opus. Fates Warning, at its best, offers an album rich in emotions, colors and musicality. - Official website

FATES WARNING

LONG DAY GOOD NIGHT

METAL BLADE RECORDS

PROGRESSIVE METAL