Darkness in a Different Light

It took Fates Warning nearly a decade to create a follow-up to their 2004 record 'FWX'. Within these 9 years between those two records they have been keeping their sound more or less. 'Darkness in a Different Light' doesn't feature industrial elements anymore but that's about it. What is pretty annoying about this record is, that the production got painfully modern.

While 'FWX' wasn't a Fates Warning highlight either, it at least managed to keep the unique Fates Warning personality. But what on earth are "Firefly" and "Kneel and Obey" supposed to be? These songs could be made by any modern prog band. The writing is generic and the sound is even kind of djenty at times. I will at least give "Firefly" props for being catchy and having a cool solo section, but still this is not what I want to get when grabbing a Fates Warning record. Unfortunately this is not where complaints end, for the album is packed with filler material. "Falling" is a little interlude with pretty generic, but even kind of cute melodies, "Into the Black" offers a badass riff in its opening moments, but can't continue being interesting for long and "O Chloroform" has pretty much nothing going for it except for its cool, catchy chorus. So after half the record is made up of forgettable songs, what is left? Well the rest is actually not bad. "Desire" has an interesting crime-thriller flair to it and "I Am" is built up on a pretty cool Tool-like bass line. The opener "One Thousand Fires" features those djenty elements I already criticized about this record, but here they somehow manage to make it cool and effective. "Lighthouse" is filled with creepy atmosphere and definitely the best song on the record. It is just a shame that Fates Warning never went any further with that song than just continuing that atmospheric section. They could have made more out of it. And here is another problem, similar to the last record's problem: The best songs are not among the best Fates Warnng songs. The album's longtrack "And Yet It Moves" may be one of the highlights of the album, but compared to masterpieces like "Epitaph" and "The Ivory Gate of Dreams" it is pretty forgettable. There is nothing special about the first half of this 14-minute-track, but the later half at least offers some emotional moments and excellent melodies.

Once again Fates Warning have put out a disappointing record. At this point it appeared that the band had nothing left to say and their prime was way back in the past. But a few years later they were ready to release one final highlight that could definitely be compared to some of their classics.

Prolific is a thing Fates Warning has not been for a while. At the time of its release, ‘Darkness In A Different Light’ was only the fifth Fates Warning album 22 years and their first in almost a decade. Maybe they needed the time to recharge their batteries, because it is easily their best in a long time. While no Fates Warning album is ever less than decent, much of the material released prior to ‘Darkness In A Different Light’ lacked either assertion (‘FWX’) or melodic content (‘Disconnected’). However, this album restores the balance that is so essential for progressive metal.

Stylistically, ‘Darkness In A Different Light’ is not too far removed from ‘Sympathetic Resonance’, the album guitarist Jim Matheos recorded with original singer John Arch. The riff work is heavy, but there is an abundance of melodic and atmospheric touches to give the material depth and lasting power. The biggest difference between the two albums is defined by singer Ray Alder, who has a much darker and more emotional tone than Arch. And while his range has not aged perfectly, the emotional impact of his delivery is impressive, resulting in what is arguably his best singing since the rather vocal-centric ‘Parallels’.

While ‘Darkness In A Different Light’ is no stylistic detour – it basically blends the heavy punch of ‘Disconnected’ with the melancholic melodicism of ‘Parallels’ – something feels fresh and more metallic about the album. My suspicion is that switching drummers had some influence on that. Mark Zonder’s skills are unquestionable, but he also has a tendency to overplay. Bobby Jarzombek is every bit as technical, but understands that even in its most complex form, heavy metal should be driven and energetic. The return of longtime guitarist Frank Aresti can also be felt in the lead guitar department, though it is still pretty much Matheos’ album.

At its best, ‘Darkness In A Different Light’ can certainly be compared favorably to Fates’ classic material. ‘Firefly’ is a gorgeous song that blends crushing riffing with a fantastic chorus, while ‘And Yet It Moves’ closes the album in a particularly epic fashion. It forsakes the suite-like nature of many long progmetal tracks in favor of a more song-oriented approach to the point where I didn’t realize I was listening to a 14 minute song until the acoustic part before the finale reared its head. The darkly brooding ‘Lighthouse’ is one of the most brilliantly atmospheric tracks in the band’s discography.

If there is anything to criticize about ‘Darkness In A Different Light’ is that it takes a slightly too obvious cue from bands that commenced their activities after Fates Warning did at times. The influence of Porcupine Tree pops up every now and then and ‘Kneel And Obey’ has a distinct Alice In Chains vibe. That is hardly an issue that ruins the listening pleasure of the album though, as it easily is one of the better progressive metal albums in recent years. Fates themselves would eventually outdo it with the slightly more consistent ‘Theories Of Flight’ three years later, but fans of intricate, yet heavy and melodically strong music should enjoy this immensely.

Recommended tracks: ‘Firefly’, ‘And Yet It Moves’, ‘Lighthouse’

Originally written for my Kevy Metal weblog

It has been almost a decade since the last Fates Warning release and almost twenty years since their last great release. Not since 'Inside Out' have they recorded anything worthy of a spot in my year end top ten. After two mediocre offerings and one absolute flop, maybe they needed the nine year break to recharge their batteries. It seems that the break is exactly what the doctor ordered.

'Darkness in a Different Light' is the eleventh studio album in the storied career of the band. From the opening track "One Thousand Fires", they prove that they are back and in a big way. Displaying all the progressive touches that have made Fates Warning the leaders of the genre, with the heaviness that brings back the glory days of 'No Exit'. "One Thousand Fires" is the perfect opener and the albums best song. However, the other nine do not disappoint. This release has everything the Fates fan would want. From the crushing heavy songs as the above mentioned opener along with "Firefly", "I Am" and "Into the Black". The ballads "Falling" and "Lighthouse" and the epic closer "And Yet It Moves" clocking in at just over fourteen minutes, mixing the best of both worlds.

The musicianship is top notch, as expected from this stellar line up. The guitar tandem of Matheos and Aresti play crunchy heavy riffs, beautiful melodies, and the solos are nothing short of amazing. The rhythm section of Vera and Jarzombek tighten everything up. Vera's smooth and groovy bass playing is so soulful, while Jarzombek drumming, which may very well be the highlight of this album, is so technically perfect without losing any of the feeling. Often drummers focus so much on the technical aspect of things that they lose the feeling, sounding robotic. Jarzombek succeeds, where so many others a failed, playing with remarkably technical precision, while never failing to feel the music. Alder gives a fantastic vocal performance. Although he doesn't hit the high notes he used to in the past, each word that rolls off his tongue is sung with such passion. The lyrics are also incredible as always, producing some of the best choruses in the bands history.

'Darkness in a Different Light' is an incredibly strong comeback and the bands best album in nearly twenty years. It will definitely be making my top ten of 2013. This album has exceeded my expectations and I've had a hard time taking out of the cd player since the day I got it. Let's hope we don't have to wait another nine years for the next Fates Warning album.

originally written for www.metalbite.com

Nine long years, had gone by until suddenly Darkness 'Arrived' In a Different Light to ecstatic Fates Warning fans. I have been listening to the album non-stop and each listen brings me emphatically to the conclusion; it is one of the finest progressive metal releases of 2013.

Now, to substantiate my statement above. The return of Frank Aresti to the band has uplifted the guitar riffs, each of which are honed to complement, lead or trail the second, stalwart guitarist of the band, Jim Matheos. Matheos has been and seen all that the fates can hold for Fates Warning through the long years and has been steadfast in his loyalty and contribution to the growth of the band, since '86. The scorching opener, 'One Thousand Fires', 'Into the Black' have riffs, solos and hooks that are jaw-dropping with subtle time signatures written all over them. The keyboards are gone and overall the album resonates a heavier sound.

It was around mid-Aug, when the FW camp introduced us to their first single 'Firefly'. I remember hearing the song and then reading what Ray Alder had to say about the song and his career in general. He saw fireflies outside the studio and hadn't seen them in a long time which abound his hometown in San Antonio.
Ray's job was never easy, to ingratiate Arch fans and then cement his position, as the helmsman of Fates Warning. He proved capable in every sense of the term and has been phenomenal since the No Exit days. His side projects, Redemption has been equally successful and Engine to a lesser degree! In this album, I find his high pitches more subtly placed, perfectly mixed with his normal voice. A good example of this is the 'I Am' track. The unmistakable passion in his voice has mesmerized audiences worldwide.

The departure of John Arch, also saw the marked change in fantasy laden themes in the songs. Lyrically, they evolved to a gathering sense of darkness, impending gloom and slim hopes disguised in 'pleasant' shades of gray and white. Then there are recurring motifs of seasons, seas, time (both elapsed and the present), clouded skies, lands awash with rain and the burning sun. To convey this same feeling of darkness, quite a few tracks deliberately build up slow, seemingly suspending time and then like a storm they pour forth their fury. 'O Chloroform' and 'Lighthouse' from this album best fits this aforementioned style. For those, not in the knowing, Kevin Moore has contributed to the lyrics of O Chloroform.

Bobby Jarzombek's playing style on the drums is also reminiscent of a heavy metal drummer, having mastered his art. I must mention the epic closer and the longest track on the album, 'Yet It Moves'. It's humble acoustic beginnings seamlessly giving way to the battery charge and the electric guitars create an atmosphere that no metal fan can shy away from, without headbanging. The progressive elements are oozing out of every pore of the track and the ending section showcases another section of monumental acoustic prowess, starting at the 9:03 mark. Yes, this will move masses, yet!
' Falling, Floating
Lost and far from Home
Dreaming, Drifting
Destination Unknown '
The musicianship is flawless throughout, the quality is great, the bass is audible. InsideOut Music has clinched a winner.

After the effusive praise, here's some critiquing and hence not the perfect score. Track #3 'Desire' is really a bad one and doesn't live up to the quality of the others. Was this supposed to please some rock station on the radio? They don't deserve to play progressive, as they just aren't progressive enough. 'Falling' I suppose, was a filler track, just past a minute a length. It has Alder speaking mostly words of wisdom to the strumming of the acoustic guitars.

As I write this, they are selling venues out in Europe. I cannot wait to see them here in the US. Hail the Fates, may your thread keep spinning forever.

Much like the case with Black Sabbath, Fates Warning released their first album in nine years under some odd circumstances. Sporadic activity and numerous side projects cast the prog giants’ future in doubt, but they’ve come back with an album that is stronger than anticipated. They even brought touring drummer Bobby Jarzombek and classic guitarist Frank Aresti along for the ride, drawing even more comparisons to the Arch/Matheos project that was spawned in 2011.

Fates Warning and Arch/Matheos may have the same players in their ranks aside from the singers fronting them but each project does have a distinct sound to it. While Sympathetic Resonance exerted long song lengths with a dark prog metal execution, Darkness in a Different Light offers a more accessible approach. The songs are shorter in comparison and tracks like “Desire” and “I Am” sound more like Soundgarden or Tool than Dream Theater. This album also has a more contemplative side with “Lighthouse” and “Falling” sounding like lost OSI tracks.

Of course, there are some inevitable similarities to their sister project. There are some heavy tracks to be found as “One Thousand Fires” starts things off with an appropriately fiery delivery and “Kneel and Obey” has a crunchy riff or two to match the slower tempo. “And Yet It Moves” is the strongest overall connection as it goes through several changes over the course of fourteen minutes.

And like any Fates Warning album, the performances are what truly sell it. Ray Alder may have lost his higher register years ago but his lower range has held up and works well with the material at hand. The rhythm section is also incredibly tight as Joey Vera’s bass playing is some of the best that the band has ever had and the drumming is consistent intricate through even the simplest of grooves.

Sympathetic Resonance may have been a touch more worth of the Fates Warning banner but Darkness in a Different Light is a surprisingly satisfying comeback. The style may be tricky to get into but it is executed well and the band sticks to its strengths. It’s hard to tell which project has more momentum behind it but the players still have plenty of life in them.

Highlights:
“One Thousand Fires”
“Desire”
“I Am”
“Lighthouse”
“And Yet It Moves”

Originally published at http://psychicshorts.blogspot.com

With a 3D origami graphic that seems taken straight from some forgotten prog rock record of decades past, it becomes immediately apparent that the Fates Warning revival, after nearly a decade of studio absence, will not be yanking upon their early 80s trad/power metal roots, but instead dialing to a point later in that decade where they transformed into their more subtle, progressive phase which produced a streak of fine records in Perfect Symmetry, Parallels, and Inside Out, before wearing itself thin with the lazier, inexpressive, weaker songwriting that characterized the three later full-lengths which led up to the hiatus. Or at least, that is what I hoped when I was gazing upon the packaging of Darkness in a Different Light, and fortunately I wound up rewarded with what came across to me like an amalgamation of the mechanical nuance of Perfect Symmetry/Parallels with the cleaner, modernized production punch of Fates Warning X.

Yes, a truly throwback Fates Warning record is not and will likely never be in the cards, but with the advent of the Arch/Matheos collaboration that's no longer really a necessity. While that excellent debut, Sympathetic Resonance had a more contemporary appeal than The Specter Within and Awaken the Guardian, it was close enough in feel to satisfy the nostalgia, and potentially leave us two avenues with which to answer our cravings. What I really wanted out of Darkness in a Different Light was another Perfect Symmetry, a slightly dark, prescient and melodic piece with memorable songwriting that could endure for decades. This isn't nearly on that level, I'm afraid, but certainly exceeds the mediocrity that defined the group's 1997-2004 phase. The sole loss to the previous lineup, drummer Mark Zonder, has returned to his alma mater Warlord and produced a comeback of its own in The Holy Empire (in fact a better album than this); but here he is replaced with Bobby Jarzombek, a player with superior technical ability that could play on almost any recording under the sun. Not to discredit Zonder, whose simple and steady performance was a great match for Fates' aesthetic transition in the late 80s, but just the presence of Bobby alone hints at a more energized, exciting selection of tracks...

...which is, to an extent, an accurate depiction of Darkness in a Different Light. There is unquestionably a sense of revitalization and commitment to the material, perhaps spurred on by Matheos' success with the John Arch collaboration. Fates Warning seems hungry again, and though mechanically there is little here which seems a 'progression' beyond anything they released through the 90s, there is a greater focus on the core strengths of riffing, pacing and melody that kept them near the pinnacle of the niche back in their prime. The songs here will not so much haunt or impress anyone to the point that they'll be hummed on subway trains or in cubicles, but they achieve a median between the gentler emotional moments of their past balladry, and the stolid post-Rush grooves characteristic of Fates Warning X, Disconnected or Alder's other bands Engine and Redemption. Though Jarzombek's drumming is clear and away the most complex and harried component of the music, I like that they've brought back some fairly well developed chorus building in cuts like "One Thousand Fires" and "Into the Black". Though there are a lot of thicker 'boogie' grooves that dominate the harder end of the record, I like that several of the rhythm guitars had a tone and phrasing straight off Perfect Symmetry.

Alder's not exactly taxing himself, and he hasn't for many years now, but his presence certainly carries much of the material with a wealth of subtler dramatic shifts and smooth, sustained intonations (as in "Kneel and Obey"). The guy's not spitting out catchy line after line, but he's also not repeating himself ad nauseum with the boredom I've experienced on other albums, and he really works to contrast the start/stop nature of the grooves in pieces like "O Chloroform". Clean, feely, processed guitars are still pretty common, but there's an appreciable array of metallic riffing that spans from the later 80s material, when progressive metal in general felt more exotic, to the marginal nu- and groove- metal stuff that had started to infect the band in the 90s, but nothing feels cheap or redundant. The leads are definitely cut from a wilder, flashy hard rock cloth in tunes like "Into the Black", but they're not exactly memorable. I also have to say that I'm just not too impressed with the bass lines. Joey Vera is normally fantastic but they seem to subsumed by the rhythm guitars, even though his tone is crystal clear. As unusual as it seems, Alder and Jarzombek are the stars here; most of the guitars serve only as a seat for the vocalizations, and not a lot are interesting independently.

It wouldn't be possible for me to listen through this without consciously comparing it to the latest works of the two other American prog metal bigwigs, and I think it shares that same earnest vivacity for steering the band back to a point at which it truly mattered. Dream Theater might have pulled it off a little better on their eponymous disc, but I enjoyed it more than the most recent by Queensrÿche proper. And yet there's still a sense of a band working hard to where it needs to be, but not entirely succeeding. Darkness in a Different Light is engaging enough where it counts, when you're actually sitting there with the music in your speakers or headphones, but it's very difficult to imagine caring about it a month from now, much less when you're in the mood for one of their classics. If I compare this to any of their first 6-7 albums, whether in the Arch or Alder camp, it falls short in terms of songwriting and overall aesthetic quality. Clearly the time off has aged the band well, and I don't mean to be too down on this, it's a solid record; but I do hope this can prove the groundwork for a record like Perfect Symmetry where most of the songs resonate well beyond their years, despite being well ahead of their original birth date.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com