And yet it moves fates warning1/11/2024 ![]() ![]() All that was left was to adapt the spacier material of X, Disconnected, and A Pleasant Shade of Gray to an ensemble that no longer relied on electronics in the live setting. With the unabashedly metal Bobby Jarzombek (ex- Halford, Riot, et al) behind the kit, Jim Matheos and crew redefined the Fates Warning sound yet again, to absolutely crushing effect. That dedication has been on full, unambiguous display for over twenty years, but particularly since Fates Warning broke their nine-year studio silence with 2013’s Darkness in a Different Light, an unapologetically metallic assault that decisively shut the traps of naysayers who complained of the dreamlike ambiance that former drummer Mark Zonder and longtime collaborator Kevin Moore (yes, that Kevin Moore) had woven into the Fates Warning sound over the previous three records. A unit that routinely cranks out material as meritorious as it is multifarious, these Connecticut exiles owe their longevity and enduring relevance to mastery of their craft, stylistic flexibility, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. If Darkness In A Different Light isn't in your Top X of 2013 list at the end of the year, there may be something fundamentally wrong with you.I will never tire of saying how lucky we are to exist in the same world as Fates Warning. They've been on the uptrend since the "pretty good" A Pleasant Shade of Gray in 1997 (which might seem like long ago, but there's only been two other albums between that and Darkness In A Different Light) and Darkness In A Different Light only showcases a band that has gotten better with time. So where does the album fit into the canon of Fates Warning? To be blunt, right at the top of their game. Even the heavier moments aren't chock-full of things going on there's room to breathe, which means (to me at least) the whole record has a certain airy quality about it that's just… so well done. ![]() Even in verses of songs "Firefly" there are undertones of clean guitars… but back to heavy for a minute, because it's about to make sense. In an obvious sense, songs like "Falling" are acoustic, while the end of "Into the Black" and pieces of "And Yet It Moves" utilize some clean guitars and rhythm-section heavy moments. While the record has been described as heavy, there's an extremely atmospheric quality to it as well. The nice thing about Darkness In A Different Light is that it flows like a record that was written with a certain tonality in mind trying to get a point across and really nailing it with different moods. Even the fourteen-minute closer "And Yet It Moves" is filled with nothing but composure and musicianship, which is… well, awesome, as the tendency to put the long track last in the realm of the genre is essentially free reign to get the wank out. What Fates Warning have done is composed a heavy album in the name of really, really solid progressive music that never oversteps its boundaries or tries to be flashy beyond the point of enjoyability. It's a solid kind of heavy though, in that there's no one trying to out-play the other for the sake of a harder tone, nor are there needless solos strewn all over the place because "it's progressive, man." No. Between the sick riffing of Jim Matheos and Frank Aresti, and the unbelievably tight-and-massive rhythm section of drummer Bobby Jarzombek and bassist Frank Aresti, there's almost no stopping this record from being monolithic in terms of writing and playing. Right from the get-go of "One Thousand Fireflies," Fates Warning mean business with the heavy and pretty consistently keep it up throughout the album.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |