A new religion?
A new religion?
| 1. In the Beginning 2. A New Religion? 3. Soul Sailor 4. Apocalypse 5. Every Word I Whisper 6. Dead Man Walkin' 7. My Silence 8. Secret Vision 9. The Keeper 10. Twisted Feet 11. Not Too Far |
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| Recent Albums by Band: Athena - A New Religion? (1998) |
Related Albums: Labyrinth - No Limits Rhapsody - Legendary Tales Rhapsody - Symphony of Enchanted Lands |
| Just when it looked like the power/prog metal scene was beginning
to get overcrowded with countless clones of the same product (a fate that nearly killed
death metal in the early/mid 90s), we see a new dawn, handed to us by the hands of time-
and that dawn is none other than Italy's pride "ATHENA". The rapidly expanding
power/prog metal scene, has thrown many great bands at us in the last few years (Primal
Fear, Labyrinth, Rhapsody, Stratovarius (around for some time, but never given the
deserved merits until recently). At the helm of Athena is the glorious vocal proficiency of FABIO LEONE. Few are familiar with him, but it's only a short matter of time, before his name becomes synonymous with metal legends like Bruce Dickinson, Geoff Tate, M. Kiske, to name a few. His vocal style is somewhat reminiscent to that of Midnight of the legendary Crimson Glory, in the sense that he sings a verse in a melodic high pitch vibrato, then slides into an evil King Diamond'ish low, followed by more vocal operatics. His range is unsurpassable, and the strength in his voice is matched by few. Yes- Athena's strength is in the vocal delivery, however, they do not lack in other fields. The producition of this disc is very strong, not as cinematic as Rhapsody (another band Fabio fronts), but very clean nevertheless, and rich in execution. A lot of power metal bands today, drown their objective, of a clean, rich sound, but using too many synthesizers, keys, vocal effects, etc. Athena has mastered this field. At the forefront of each recording are the vocals, followed closely but chunky guitars, reminiscent of the tone Dream Theater created on their Awake album. |
| A quick overview of the CD, track by track, takes us into track
2, "A new religion" (track 1 is an intro). The track grips the listener with a
strong double bass attack, and a very attractive rhythm guitar section. As soon as the
tempo relaxes a bit, and rhythm subdues, a very epic-like keyboard soundscape takes over,
an Fabio introduces a brilliant melody, showing no mercy, and leaving no prisoners behing.
60 seconds into the song, and I was hooked. I knew this was something special. The song is
like a rollercoaster- going from slow, to fast, to clean, to rough, and never leaving the
listener behind in confusion. Track 3 "Soul Sailor" is something that Helloween
wish they would have written for Keeper 2. It's similiar to EAgle Fly Free, but with a
little more force. The next track sounds like something that would be served to
skitzophrenic patients- the song opens with a fury, soaring vocals VERY similar to Midnite
of C.G., in the sense that the verse is sang with a very evil, almost animal-like shriek
(showing a new side of Fabio). The bridge takes a wild turn, and sounds like you're on a
merry-go-round: very twisted melody, something that ti'll now, only King Diamond could
have composed. Then the chorus- tears the listener from the subtle, yet twisted bridge,
with a quad-jump in tempo, leaving everything behind, and presenting us with yet another
side of Fabio's vocals- this time the chorus is sang with a ghostly, almost cacophonous
tone. The entire album is vrey consistent, without any letdowns. In contrast to Rhapsody, and Labyrinth (Fabio's other bands), this one is as good as them, if not better. In all honesty, it is hard to pin them against each other, as, each of these bands sustains a very high level of power metal precision, but each chose a slightly different path to perfect. The only thing I could pick away at on this recording, is a lack of flashy guitar soloing. However, I feel that if anything, more techincality in the leads would bring in confusion into this sharply precise recording. As a matter of fact, it took me several listens, before I even realized that catchy solos were missing here- testimony to the overall dynamics of this recording. I give this gem 9 leather-clad pumpkins, screaming "Hail True Metal". Top 5 metal releases of 1998, in my books. As solid as they get. Rating = 9.0 |
