This
year, I've been listening to a couple of debut albums, sometimes just very
randomly, though. The metal scene constantly grows and I feel great about being
able to constantly listen to new music. This time, I put my hands on Spain's
Distance' progressive metal debut "I".
There is lots
of different and great influences mixed in Distance' music. On the progressive
side, I hear a good amount of Textures when it comes to riffs and structures
(even synthesizer melodies sometimes), while the vocals seem to be highly
influenced by Killswitch Engage. The overall feeling is more on the modern
melodic death metal side - Soilwork, I'd say.
With this mix
and at least a bit of skill, I think it's pretty hard to fail as a band. And
indeed, Distance' overall sound is decent. They have been able to blend
different styles together nearly flawlessly on this record. On the other side, I
also feel that the Spanish can improve a lot when it comes to songwriting. Their
influences are really obvious, and it's not a bad thing at all to steal one or
two things from one's favorite band - one just needs notion of how to make it
sound great and original. I could name maybe one or two bands that have very
distinct influences but sound amazing in their own way. As I am listening to
"I", I sometimes have the feeling that I'm listening to Textures 2.0 with, by
comparison, weak vocals. Well, not every singer can sound as amazing as Eric
Kalsbeek or Daniël de Jongh, so I shouldn't be that rough on vocalist Morgan.
Although he indeed sounds a bit dissonant at some point when he's trying too
hard to reach higher notes ("Too Late"), he pulls off gutturals as well as clean
vocals and sounds a lot more detailed and emotional than other fellows in the
metal scene.
Overall, "I"
is an acceptable debut, and I do believe that there is more great material to
come from this band. Once the musicians will have found their own style, I have
no doubts that they could make it big in the future. It was actually fun to
listen to this record, and for example, I liked "Seeker Of Truth" (and that
solo!) a lot. I will clearly keep an eye on Distance and see what the future
brings for them.
