It
is still a matter of taste, if you like progressive music with some harsh and
grunting vocals every now and then. Perhaps some would have liked clean vocals
only more, personally I never mind some harsh singing, at least, as long as it
isn't forced. In my eyes it adds something to the music, it just makes this
Swiss band a tad heavier and different from the lot.
In
2011 I reviewed their second album 'All Gods Are Gone' and I was very pleased by
it. This third album is a rather logical follow up, there are no extreme style
changes. They have kept the strong elements in their music. Vocalist Pat Gerber
still has
an excellent clean singing style and together with some vocal parts by
bass player Omar Cuna it all sounds great. The band has kept the beautiful contrast
between the heavier and the melodic parts in their music. What I especially like
is the nice melodic singing lines in several songs. Take for example the clean
singing part in "Without Reason", especially after the grunting they sound
magical and the refrain in the song is one of the nicest ones I've heard lately.
Same can be said about the singing lines in "The Seer" and "The New Beginning".
Most of the songs are rather long, but I never get the idea that they are too
long, they keep them interesting. Another nice element is the keyboard parts,
sometimes with a real 70's touch, then again rather modern. In several parts
the band Pink Floyd entered my mind, while the heavier almost thrash kind of
parts almost have a resemblance of Nevermore. Fans of the band Superior will also find
this band very interesting. In the progressive metal pool, this Appearance of
Nothing is one of a kind, they have mixed several styles and created a style of their
own, not the umpteenth Dream Theater clone, but a style easily to recognize as
Appearance of Nothing.
I
doubt if there will be a better progressive metal album this year that delivers
such a good balance between heavy and melodic parts and with such catchy godly
singing lines.
