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Although you may not suspect this, but reviewing CD’s is not always
as nice as you would think. Now, it is not that I only have a pile
of nice and original CD’s, as far as one can speak of piles. No,
honestly said, the majority is of such a quality, that after having
listened to them for the review, they enter a closet, where they
most likely never will come out again. But sometimes you get an
album in your mailbox that makes you realize that is why you are
doing it for.
Some time ago I received the album ‘Shade of Fate’ by the band
Pantommind in my hands. Nice artwork, so I thought, let’s play this
one. And then it hit me…because this was freakin’ good music! So
immediately I turned to the bio to see who was playing this great
music. Pantommind turns out to be a Bulgarian band, and you don’t
meet those every day. And ‘Shade of Fate’ is their second work. It
appears the band has been active for the past ten years, but since
in their homeland there is no big market, they were very limited.
Their debut album, ‘Farewell’, from 1999, was released by the band
themselves. But now they have a deal with the Italian based Lucretia
Records, and now we finally too can enjoy the qualities of this
great band.
‘Shade of Fate’ is a prog metal album, as a prog metal album is
supposed to be! Right away with the opening and title song ‘Shade of
Fate’, you realize this is a top class band. This song opens with
fantastic keys and nice, crunchy guitars. And on the moment Ivan
opens his mouth, you now it for sure: an amazing singer, powerful
and passionate. The entire band sounds tight and close and
fortunately they manage t stay away from the usual clichés, causing
the album to sound fresh and original.
Now there will always be those who compare every prog metal band to
Dream Theater or Queensr˙che and shout they are clones or wannabees.
To those people I’d like to say: stop whining and enjoy good music.
Pantommind is absolutely no clone of whatever band. Of course, there
will always be a hint of Dream Theater or whatever in the music. But
‘Shade of Fate’ stands on its own legs and the gents seem to be
doing that pretty well.
The music is driven and the fun simply radiates off of the music. I
am very impressed by Tony Ivan, definitely one of the better
vocalists that I have heard in the past time. I already mentioned
the fantastic keyboard sound, in the first place the work of Sunny
X. His talent especially is evident in the song ‘Closer to You’,
which starts with soft piano, and them flows over into solid prog
metal, where the emphasis goes to the familiar synth sounds.
Although this is a strong song, I would not call this my favourite
song. Even more, I don’t have a favourite song at all on this
album….for the simple fact the entire album is of such a quality,
that I consider the entire album to be my favourite!
One song that does stand out a bit, is the short ‘Trace to Find’,
which is almost acoustic. Here guitarists Pete Christ and Peter
Vichew show they can play both mellow and soft as well as heavy and
rough. Their guitar sound stands like a rock, with stunning solos
and crunchy riffs. This is supported by the sublime bass play by
Dido and the drums by Drago, gives the sound a full body.
We can talk about it for hours, but that is no use. Shade of Fate is
an album that you simply must hear and then you will experience the
quality of this band. The album gives me, even after several spins,
still the same sensation Ripples in Time by Chromeshift gave me:
Goosebumps!
So, what are you waiting for? Make sure you get this album, as from
now on, the Bulgarian prog metal scene is on the map and won’t be
ignored anymore. Because Shade of Fate by Pantommind can proudly
placed between your albums by Dream Theater, Queensr˙che or Fates
Warning. Even more, that is the only place where it belongs. |
