Fates Warning
Theories of Flight

Theories of Flight from some guys calling themselves Fates Warning, who happens to be one of the most influential bands of the progressive metal genre. With this album they complete one dozen albums and they do it with an album that certainly looks exciting, the artwork by Graceann Warn is different both for a Fates Warning album and for any music album full stop. So it looks exciting and when interviewing Ray Alder he made it sound even more interesting, but of course talk and looks is one thing so what about the actual album? Does it sound as exciting as it looks?

Well, it has the signature sound of Fates Warning meaning that anyone who listens to this album will recognise it as an album by Fates Warning – that is if they have heard the band before. But at the same time it sounds fresh and not quite like any of their earlier albums. Excellent production and I believe this is the best performance ever by vocalist Ray Alder, I think you can describe this as a quality production. And if you don’t know their style I would say that it is progressive metal that is built on a rather minimalistic melodic approach with strong melodies, atmospheres, variation, depth and emotion. It has some long tracks but the album isn’t that long with a playing time of 53 minutes on eight tracks, an album that really ought to appeal to fans of this band.

Fates Warning really takes flight; it would appear that they know their theories well. This is the best album of the year so far, at least the best one that isn’t a reissue and actually the first one of those to get six or more in rating this year. It is really impressive how they manage to reinvent themselves while not really alienating their fans by stepping away from their signature sound. Ray Alder is excellent and the band is as excellent, which makes this a really highflying album that you don’t really need to know the theories of flight to really enjoy. This is probably the second best album these guys have ever done, it just is that great and it highly recommended.

I think you should really look at this album, all the tracks are great on it but if I am to pick out a favourite I think that the track called SOS is the one I like the best. The Light and Shade of Things along with the ending title track are two that deserves honourable mentions, as these are also standout tracks. This is a standout album that really deserves your attention, the top album of the year so far – I wouldn’t be very surprised if it is still the best when the year ends. I think you should really check out this album, it is brilliant.

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