ANDROMEDA - Manifest Tyranny
December 7, 2011, 13 years ago
(Ulterium)
The fourth full-lengther from this Swedish prog metal band is the sound of a very confident group. And it’s an accomplishment that the band stays so damn listenable through all these six-, seven-, and nine-minute songs, never mind the fact that never once do I feel like shoving their frilly shirts down their throats or setting fire to their keyboards. But that’s because this band’s got some teeth to their prog; sure, it’s melodic, it’s kinda flighty with those keyboards and the precious-guy crooning, but it also packs a punch: ‘Play Dead’ gets heavy, especially in the intro, and drops into a groove just before the four-minute mark that is positively fun. ‘Chosen By God’ is a good example of this band’s great mix of ‘80s lite metal and full-on prog attack, while ‘Go Back To Sleep’’s melodic vocals and melody lines prove this song would be a hit in a better world, a world where ‘Silent Lucidity’ is always #1 on the charts. With its super-crisp production, energy, heaviness, and good atmosphere (check out the guitar sound on ‘Survival Of The Richest’), Manifest Tyranny is definitely going to please prog fans, and maybe even those who don’t normally venture into prog but have a jonesin’ for ‘80s melodic hard rock and feel like adding one progressive disc to their collection. This may as well be the one. I think this one might get repeat listens around these parts, and I haven’t said that about a prog-metal album in a long time.
