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I have always been a bit wary of progressive bands, mostly
because of their attempts at complexity. Be it with time signatures
or technique or just those ridiculously long solos, band just
FORGET that their aim should be to make good music and not
write a staff notation of a solution to Schrodinger's equation.
With Amaseffer's Slaves For Life however, I felt blessed to
have stumbled upon such a work of art. ***
Firstly, I would like to acknowledge this band's sheer
songwriting prowess. It was truly unlike anything I had heard
before, or even expected from this album. Right from the start,
one can tell that the aim of this band was to present a story
to the listener through their music, not how the drummer can
beat Mike Potnoy at complex time signatures. Their use of
folk instruments, the Mid-Eastern tunes and symphonies and
of course,their use of sounds from everyday life and the dialogues
in Hebrew; all of them made it seem as if it one was watching
a movie and not listening to an album. The vocals by Mats
Levin of Therion are perfect.Not too whiny, nor too cheesy.
Sometimes, they even remind you of Roy Khan's (Kamelot) singing.
The lyrics are very to-the-point. Amaseffer have not tried
to be excessively poetic and use verses that could mean ANYTHING,
which is something I really appreciate. If a story has to
be told, the events within it should unfold with ease. ***
Now, the fact that this band is a progressive metal band,
could mean that people will expect a high level of technique.
Unfortunately (for such people), that is not the case. But
its not a problem either. Their rhythms are pretty simple
and straightforward powerchords, notes and chords and their
solos are not very fast or technical; but they all add to
the overall mood of the album. There's not a single moment
where the mood of the song becomes casual due to a rhythm
that may be technically sound, but that's all it is. Every
song generates its own mood because each song talks about
different phases of the Moses story. And all the dialogues
and sound effects make sure that even if you're not very knowledgeable
about that story (like me),you WILL know what events unfold
(even though the dialogues are in Hebrew). ****
If I was to describe what band these guys sound like,
I would say a slower, less technical but exponentially more
melodic version of the newer Symphony X. I don't have a personal
favourite song as every song is great and paramount to the
album. But yes, I enjoyed 'The Wooden Staff' the most for
its digitized Hebrew voice in the beginning and that section
in the middle where the guitar, bass and xylophone are playing
this catchy Mid-Eastern tune. ***
All in all, this is the best concept album I have heard
till date. Once again, I'd like to congratulate the band.
To be able to come up with such brilliance on debut itself
is nothing short of a world record. In fact, if the band continues
to write music like this, and improve, they could easily dethrone
even veterans in this genre like Opeth and Symphony X. A brilliant
collection of music. Something that every fan of good music
should possess.
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