Arcade Messiah
II

II is the title of the new album by Arcade Messiah, an alter ego of musician John Bassett known for being the frontman of KingBathmat. A very busy man these past few years with three solo albums being released in the last two years, two as Arcade Messiah and one as his own name, this album was released about a month ago. This second album with its logical title also has a cover that has a cover art that stylistically very similar to the cover of the first Arcade Messiah album. Arcade Messiah is Bassett’s instrumental metal project and his first album was released to critical acclaim, we didn’t review it as we did not have the time to get into the album but this second album didn’t avoid my attention.

And worthy of my attention it was as well. Instrumental metal with heaviness, with darkness, variation, progressiveness, and a lot of interesting angles of attack makes this a stylistically interesting album. Not overly complex or difficult to take to but complex enough to retain your interest for repeated listening. The music is dramatic and varied and you will never find yourself longing for vocal parts and that is true even for myself who generally isn’t that fond of instrumental music. The production is excellent, the soundscape is wonderful and I think Bassett has done brilliantly with this album it is a brilliant production.

And it is an album worth the money as well, I mean who can argue with the possibility to buy the digital album for whichever price you deem fair? I think there is no real argument against this album, I think it is great – all the songs are excellent and the production brilliant and the album has great longevity as well so I doubt you will ever grow tired with it. I think that it is one of the best instrumental albums I have ever heard, not that it is a genre I am very well versed in but I have heard quite a few albums nevertheless.

I’d say that this is a recommended album, all the songs are great, it has no weaknesses and I have to describe myself as very impressed. One of the best of 2015 I would also point out that it is, and remember that it will be worth the price if you buy the digital version from the bandcamp site but I can assure you that you will not be disappointed if you buy the CD as well. So in the end there is not much more to say other than that it is a great album.

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