Rapid Fire Reviews: Episode 5

Rapid Fire Reviews is a series where I give some quick takes on some albums I recently listened to and did not have enough thoughts on to make a full scale review, but still garnered enough interest from me to give them acknowledgment. In this episode, we look at some prog, some more prog, and even more prog... and also some other band.

Aeon Zen - Inveritas

This group managed to sneak into my top 20 of 2014 with their last album "Ephemera", so naturally I was interested in what they would do with their fifth full length effort "Inveritas". The result? A much lighter and more organic record that still had the band's technical touch, so not much is lost. "Inveritas" is a great, varied product of some talented minds, displaying some excellent progressive metal that has tastes of Dream Theater, Scar Symmetry, and Symphony X. I do miss some of the djent influences that we saw on "Ephemera", and I am not fully sold on Andi Kravljaca and his new vocal style, but "Inveritas" is still a nice, competent record that prog lovers should check out. If for nothing else, just listen to it for the out of nowhere line in "Disconnected" (classic wtf moment).

Rating: 7,5/10 Rebel Theories

Avandra - Descender

You can seemingly find small prog gems anywhere you look, and fortunately for Avandra, I caught a glimpes of them, a band from Puerto Rico who released their sophomore effort "Descender" earlier this year. This album is filled to the brim with some beautiful stuff, a harmonious aura of excellence that creates several magical moments, like the exhilarating mid part of "The Narrowing of Meaning" and the angelic ending to "Beyond The Threshold, Pt. 1 (Helios Awakens)". There is this soft Cynic vibe to this group that works exquisitely, certainly making them stand out amongst other bands. Although there is some dead meat on this album, there is still enough fresh flesh to feast on for days. Definitely worthy of a look or two... or three.

Rating: 8/10 Derelict Minds

Mother of Millions - Artifacts

On to another atmospheric prog metal group, the Greek outing Mother of Millions and their third record "Artifacts". This band must certainly has Leprous as one of their main inspirational bands, because this record has a lot of that blend of harmonies and spaced out sound scapes that the Norwegians are known for. The only thing different here is that Mother of Millions are consistently mellow, rarely raising the volume or the tempo for anything, which is both a strength and a weakness. It may not be the most dynamic album out there, but the clear cut vision of the band is definitely showing, and it leads to some fantastic melodies. It does leave me wanting more though with only a run time of 40 minutes, but it also means that I can spin the records more often, so it still works out for this promising group of musicians.

Rating: 7,5/10 Rites

Savage Messiah - Demons

It sucks to see talented bands fiddle around with a sound that has no real direction, and Savage Messiah is unfortunately a prime example. They have all of the elements to be successful, a great vocalist, good riffs, and solid production value, but the band seems indecisive in if they want to be a thrash metal band, or more of a melodic heavy metal band, so they settled somewhere in the middle. "Demons" is a step forward from some of their previous works, having better song writing and more memorable songs ("The Bitter Truth" is a banger), but this 50/50 approach is rearing its ugly head again, sort of pulling the band apart, making them unable to unleash their full strength. My hopes on the band completing this symbiosis to something that works are still there, but it will have to wait at least one more album for it to come to fruition.

Rating: 6,5/10 Parachutes