Alogia - Secret spheres of art 4/5
Reviewed: 10-14-05
Tracklist:
1. Secret spheres
2. Journey into the dawn of life
3. Politics of war
4. Legend of a stolen heart
5. Falling asleep
6. Kontinuum
7. Mystica aegyptiorum
8. Amon
9. Beyond the time
10. Lament
11. Astral horizons
12. As the time passes by
13. Overture solemnis
14. Samson
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Alogia arrives at this 3rd CD from a slightly strange route, with both of their previous CDs being sung in their native Serbian. Although this might lead you to think that some of the typical problems of non-native English speakers such as poor lyrics or strong accents might ruin this CD, those problems are not present on this CD. There is nothing poorly done on this CD, from the performance to the production to the songwriting everything is done in a highly professional manner. There is a strong attention to detail with backing vocals and some very nice instrumental pieces connecting tracks or pieces of tracks.
The basic sound of the CD is speedy metal with the heaviness of a band like Stratovarius, but the instrumental complexity of Symphony X. The singer has a high-pitched voice that could bother some, but it’s not an overly whiny sound. The vocal melodies are good enough but are not much above average. The lone exception to this is the CD’s final track, “Samson”, which has the strongest vocal melody on the CD. To make up for the average vocal melodies, the CD has extremely strong instrumental melodies and riffs on instrumental and vocal tracks alike. The lead guitars are typically so strong that they force the listener to focus on them leaving the vocal melodies as almost a secondary melody. The best example is on “Politics of war”, in which the guitars vary from a dynamic lead to a melodic riff interplay with the keyboards, and then back to the guitar as a lead. The CD does slow down on a couple of tracks, but mostly maintains a fast, but not super fast, pace throughout the CD.
This is a very impressive CD to listen to and is the type of CD that grows on you rather than making an instant impact, for me anyway, due to the average vocal melodies. They don’t grab the listener, but when the listener pays attention to all the instrumental goings on, it is difficult not to be impressed. The production, backing vocals, harmonies, all the little things are very good here and make the difference in making this an excellent CD instead of a good one. This can’t hide the fact, though, that the vocal melodies aren’t as good as some of this band’s competition and they will need to be sharpened to take Alogia from an excellent band to a truly great one.
DAVID
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