Customer Reviews

Perfect Symmetry

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

People who say Dream Theater is better or true prog metal is full of it. It's all in the songwriting, this band does a much better job than Dream Theater who plays a bunch of scales 16 notes. This album is there all time high and one of the best Fates albums there is. THe new drummer Mark Zonder is amazing. May not be as heavy, but it farpasses anything in intensity

If your new to Fates Warning, you should know that of the progressive metal genre', Fates is a band that features one of the leading rock vocalists in the world today. Ray Alder has a vast range, clean tone, controlled vibrato, poetry, and angular melodies. On a canvas of very heavy oriented Metal.

This album has a moderate, more melodic and dynamic feel to it. Perhaps Fates Warning's most "beautiful" recording. Reminds of their recent release, Shades of Grey.

You'll love the vocals.

Perfect Symmetry was my first experience with this kind of rock/metal, and I've listened to it for almost 11 years now. The music and the lyrical content of their music is timeless, it will still maintain it's relevance far in the future. I was so enthralled with Perfect Symmetry when I first heard it, and all these years later I still have to close my eyes when I hear At Fates Hands. I feel very lucky that I've gotten to listen to these guys for so many years, and I've managed to enjoy all of their different "era's". I deeply respect these guys for being so inventive and refreshing, even in the face of vast changes in their music or band members.

FATE'S WARNING IS ONE OF THE FEW GROUPS WHO DARED TO LEAP INTO THE UNKNOWN EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS AND ENDED UP JUST GETTING THAT MUCH BETTER!!! THIS ALBUM HAS VERY INTERESTING SONGS THAT CHANGE TEMPO IN A VERY PLEASING FASHION! BEST SONGS ARE "STATIC ACTS", "THROUGH DIFFERENT EYES", "CHASING TIME" AND "THE ARENA!!!" I THINK IT IS A REAL TRAGEDY THAT THERE IS NOT MUSIC THIS INTERESTING OUT THERE ANYMORE!!! TAKE IT FROM ME - THESE GUYS ARE REAL MUSICIANS!

Fates Warning's Perfect Symmetry is a truly historic and genre-defining recording in progressive metal. Up until the late 80's, a term as "progressive metal" didn't even exist. It could be easily argued that Perfect Symmetry and Voivod's Nothingface, both released in 1989, are the first albums that marked the birth of really heavy, crushing metal elements blended with progressive music. This is different from any Rush, King Crimson or Yes inspired band. This is METAL with serious progressive overtones. Many people who listen to Perfect Symmetry today may find it a tad flat and uninspiring, but I challenge those people to go back to the year 1989 and find equally genre-busting, original, creative, forward-going releases. From a historical context, Perfect Symmetry ranks right on top of the list as one of the most influential albums ever.

This is drum god Mark Zonder's debut with the band too. Listening to Zonder's drumming is a true delight. I don't think I've been amazed of this magnitude by anyone else's drumming; Mark Zonder gives Fates Warning a new edge, makes them a better, more challenging act with tons of chops and transparency. Whilst this is merely his first album with the band, he works the drums with blistering power and accuracy, adding various odd-metered rhythms. Founding member Jim Matheos and Frank Aresti are still deeply rooted in a metal territory but their songwriting has moved towards a more cohesive style. Frank Aresti continues to integrate his impeccable skill into the songs as Matheos experiments with melody and harmony. Vocalist Ray Alder sings in a more disciplined manner; rather than screaming every verse, he's creating gripping melodies and delivering haunting lyrics. He's not as effective in the music as he's on the band's 90's albums, but he's certainly getting there. DiBiase on bass is less prominent than, say Awaken the Guardian, but then he is more of a straightforward bass guy whose style would better fit the John Arch-era. Still, he's there 100% with subtle rhythms and bass grooves. Guesting on the album is ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore. Many think that Moore only played on Fates Warning's 1997 and 2000 releases, which is true to a certain extent. Kevin was a key member on A Pleasant Shade of Gray and Disconnected as he played practically on every song, but his real debut with Fates Warning is Perfect Symmetry, the track "At Fate's Hands". This is one of the longest songs on the album beginning with a forlorn violin piece alongside Moore's distinctive piano melody. As Zonder plays with his cymbals, Kevin creates a creepy atmosphere which serves as a backdrop to the lengthy instrumental passage interwoven by Matheos and Aresti's celestial lead guitar melodies.

The songs are pretty nicely evened out. There are compact metal songs such as "The Arena" and "A World Apart". Mainly composed by Frank Aresti, the latter begins with dark and brooding acoustic guitars (which Aresti is great playing at) and introduces an unexpected odd-time polyrhythm by Mark Zonder before it delves into a dexterous and melodic guitar solo with lots of tapping sweeps. This is, in my opinion, one of the best solos on the album. "Part of the Machine" and "Static Acts" are penned by Matheos and Aresti respectively. Both guitarists play melodically strong solos that descend over Ray Alder's lyrics. Alder particularly sounds great on "Static Acts" signalling the fact that he will be a defining element on the band's future releases.

"Through Different Eyes" and "Chasing Time" are the album's ballads. Matheos comes up with a somewhat bluesy guitar line in the intro of "Through Different Eyes", which is enhanced by piercing screams from Ray Alder, and later a breathtaking guitar duel between the two axemen. I've always believed the style explored on this song is further developed on the band's subsequent release, Parallels. "Chasing Time" offers more violin and string instruments with emotional singing from Ray Alder. The progressive climax of the album, however, is the last song "Nothing Left to Say". At nearly 8 minutes, the song finds the band in their most extreme and experimental prog metal phase. Plenty of solos abound the compositions with polyrhythmic drum attacks, dense rhythm and lead guitars, and complex time signatures. Matheos' lyrics once again are only a small taste of what's yet to come.

The only setback of Perfect Symmetry is its production. Roger Probert is obviously more of a traditional Heavy Metal producer as he doesn't seem to have much of an impact on the band's stylistic direction. Some of the arrangements are weak and the stereo mixing is flat. There's little separation of the instruments or the vocals. However, this minor problem is overcome on the later albums as the band matches up with renown producer Terry Brown. This is a very key album in the evolution of progressive metal and essential to anyone who is interested in finding out the roots of this ever-changing genre. I also usually recommend this for starters, after Parallels, of course.

I never get bored listening to this album. Great musicianship and very intelligent lyrics. All the songs are good but "through different eyes" and "chasing time" stand above the rest.

This album is where you can hear a big change in the sound of Fates Warning-the thrashiness of "No Exit" is gone, the chunky, riff driven power metal of "Awaken the Guardian" and "The Spectre Within" is also absent. Thus began the period in Fates Warning career that they became a more clinical, clean, machine-driven entity; kind of like a Rush with more metal in their music. Ray Alder's vocals have improved though-he seems to have more control over the timbre and intonation of his voice than was shown on "No Exit." There is also an obvious change that seems to split the masses on this recording; the guitar tone went from a thick, overdriven metal vibe to a more Lifeson/Rushy type, and it has been substantially lowered in the mix to the point where it is not near as dominating, creating a less riff driven album than its predecessors. This allows the drumming to take a up a fair bit of space, and that is a good thing; the drums by Mark Zonder are godly. Don't interpret this as a slam on the guitars though-they are still as awesome and techy as ever, the sound and mix to them has just changed is all. Some of the classic tracks on here are: "Part of the Machine," the single "Through Different Eyes," and "The Arena." A great album to flesh out the prog part of yer collection, and probably the last completely awesome LP Fates Warning made.

It was 1989 and I had four favorite bands: Stryper, Dokken, Def Leppard and Poison(give me a break, ok?) and a friend loaned me 3 vinyl albums to try something different, The Spectre Within, Awaken the Guardian, and Perfect Simmetry,all by this band called Fates Warning. This one I tried first since it was the most recent. All I can tell you is that I was hipnotized, amazed, scared, impressed during the entire reproduction of the album. It was an epiphany, a revelation, one of the best crafted, performed and recorded albums, EVER. A gem. The other album were great yes, but this one was different, It's still different. Neither Fates or any other band has released something similar that I know of. Is the epitome of progressive rock/metal. Perfect Simmetry is an experience, the name was well chosen. Is perfect.

This is a historically important album that was both key to the development of progressive metal and an impressive feat in its own right. The addition of Mark Zonder on drums allows for a clean and sophisticated rhythm that guides the Fates through somewhat less conventional song structures (in all except the second track). The guitars (along with the occasional help of keyboard and violin) twist and turn, revealing a love for a somewhat new type of riff rooted in the styles of Rush and Kansas that would become important for Dream Theater and by proxy countless other prog metal bands; the song At Fates Hands is a particularly good example of this. Alder once again sings often in falsetto, which compared to the album's precursor No Exit sounds strange because the surroundings are calmer and less straightforward - the vocals might be something of an acquired taste due to this, but they are fantastic in their own right if you can accustom yourself to them.

The album as a whole sounds somewhat suffocated and frustrated; as the title suggests, the lyrics here continue the trend begun by No Exit and are mostly composed of bitter adolescent commentary on the restrictiveness of society. The critique has a tendency to become almost comically overblown: "Weary and weakened / Victims fall prey / To vague ideals and passionless play / Systematic spontaneity / In synchronized society," but when it comes right down to it there are some good points made here worth pondering a little, especially in the fantastic closer, Nothing Left to Say, which for my money is the best track on the album, featuring excellent performances by all band members of a very well-written song.

Unlike many of the bands they inspired, including later works of Dream Theater, this prog metal is not a wild display of technical ability, overly long songs, endless instrumentals, and blistering tempos. Good songwriting is the focus here, and each track is melodic, rhythmic, and clever. I'd recommend any fan of metal, even those averse to prog in general, at least give this album a chance, as despite its flaws there really isn't another one quite like it.

Perfect Symmetry is a classic in the prog-metal genre, and rightly so. The opener Part of the Machine is a good song with some fine guitar playing from Jim Matheos and Frank Aresti. Nothing Left To Say is the same, but even more so. At Fates Hands is the masterpiece of the album, however. The guitar/keyboard/violin intro section is beautiful and the entire song is an exercise in greatness. Ray Alder gives us his classic vocal leads as well. This is an album to buy if you are into prog-metal.