Fates Warning
 Fates Warning Shifting from Iron Maiden-inspired fantasy-oriented power/progressive metal toward a more introspective and intelligent approach that refines their forward-thinking sound, Fates Warning’s fifth full-length recording, Perfect Symmetry, represents the effectiveness this style of music is capable of accomplishing when performed with the utilization of the full range of each vital element that makes for potent music. In the tradition of classic progressive rock bands Rush, King Crimson, and Yes, Fates Warning exercise an artistic exploration of rock music instrumentation and compositional possibilities to portray a diversity through complexity striving to reflect the spasmodic gesture of existence. "Air
currents grind, monotony Fates Warning’s formulation succeeds where most progressive metal fails in that the music, while skillfully executed instrumentally with an applaudable technicality, never forsakes emotional involvement and atmospheric effects for complexity in structure or instrumental excess. Terrific musicianship is abundantly evidenced throughout this work, yet through sharp compositional maneuvers including highly-developed sense of dynamics this music’s creators construct balanced and engaging songs. Lengthy instrumental exercises are relegated to roles of conceptual enhancement, emphasizing a contradiction in the relation between the function of human society and the natural world. This is splendidly displayed in "Part Of The Machine", "At Fates Hands" and "Nothing Left To Say". There is character in these songs, and each movement within them makes its statement as an extension of that character, yet always returning to a thematic essence. Shorter songs such as "Through Different Eyes", "The Arena" and "Chasing Time" are driven by absorbing melodies through elegant arrangements, elevated by passionate singing and fluid guitars, previewing an approach further explored in concentrated accentuation on works to follow. "Weary and
weakened victims fall prey There is an element of despair in this music presented through monochromatic atmosphere foreign to most traditional progressive metal. The band employ a serious treatment of the mechanistic state of human society and its destructive influences on interpersonal relationships and spiritual harmony, observed from the original position of self-analysis. Hope is obscured but not lost, though recognition of the need for urgency is expressed in these words of critical observation and poetic reflection. Emotive vocals by Ray Alder are delivered in the style most commonly associated with progressive metal, specifically of the time of this album’s issuance; high-registered in tandem with appropriate passages, smoothly affectionate during acoustic sections and moments when the instrumentation is restrained and keyboards establish ambience. A skillful and clever drummer sets offbeat rhythms in tandem with highly adept and active bass guitar work provides an active and interesting foundation of operation, as well as tasteful rhythmic touches during serene moments. Acoustic and clean electric guitars, equally isolated and in combination with heavy metal riffs, flow tranquility throughout, at times offsetting darker moods, specifically when accompanied by exquisite violin. Guitar solos are excellent elaborations on conceptual motifs, often stretching a song’s emotional capacity beyond its initial pledge. "We are
adrift without direction Perfect Symmetry is an exceptional work of traditional progressive metal. Brooding and purposeful, the music makes no fanciful or exaggerated pretensions, nor does the album ever fall victim to classic prog-metal traps such as excessive interplay and conceptual overstatement. This music is elegantly structured, intelligently and masterfully executed, and delivered with unmistakable feeling. Fates Warning display a proficient understanding of tasteful melody and atmospheric dynamic, and in conjunction with the mechanical quality of their craft, this is employed in a manner that strikes within the listener a hope for a truthful future beyond an increasingly technological world. Mature and classy are often suspicious terms when applied to any band operating within a framework of heavy metal, yet Fates Warning are a rare case when such terms can adequately be applied. 5/5/07 Tracklisting: 1. Part Of The Machine
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