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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
WHAT?! NO ONE ELSE AGREES WITH ME?, October 23, 2004
This is strange indeed because in all the reviews written thus far I didn't see anyone else mention the similarities between Ray Alder's solo project Engine and Fates Warning's new album FWX. Yes, this album *is* heavier than their previous two, but it certainly sounds nothing like their earlier 80's or mid-90's stuff (and it shouldn't anyway). People have likened FWX to their Parallels/Inside Out era and somewhat to the newer sound they explored on APSOG/Disconnected. While the Disconnected comparison isn't off, I've yet to hear others mention the influence of Ray Alder's Engine project.
This is the first record Matheos hasn't worked with long time producer Terry Brown and instead went along with singer Ray Alder to handle the production duties. The Ray Alder influence is needless to say quite subtle at times. Comparisons could be particularly made to the first Engine album; that's where some of the heaviness comes from. The sound on FWX is bound to please the older fans as long as they don't expect another Awaken the Guardian or Perfect Symmetry type of record. Looking back on Fates Warning, they've morphed from disc to disc, going from a hybrid of 80's heavy metal and prog metal to more melodic prog to atmospheric and experimental prog. Each disc has continued to evolve and Matheos particularly reached his peak during the APSOG era introducing layers of depth like never before.
FWX, while surprisingly heavy during some moments, still retains the dark and atmospheric vibe which Fates Warning successfully captured on their previous album Disconnected. The similarities are so evident that even the colours and tones they used on their artwork bear affinities. For example, the surrounding of the girl in the Disconnected booklet is almost identical to the barren field displayed in the FWX one. Lyrical themes are once again characterized by despondency, despair and failures in past relationships.
Alder wrote the lyrics for three songs on the album, which are "Simple Human", "Heal Me" and "Crawl". The latter particularly sounds like an Engine outtake during the chorus. My favourite songs on the CD are "River Wide Ocean Deep", "Another Perfect Day" and "X". "River Wide Ocean Deep" has got to be the one of the most experimental songs Matheos has ever penned. It starts with female vocals in a Middle Eastern flavour before it borrows electronic soundscapes and shifts on to a heavier approach. Mark Zonder's drumming is superb in that passage. Very heavy and very relentless. "Another Perfect Day" has this brilliant acoustic intro which is a recurring theme coming up in the middle once again. This acoustic melody is something you'd normally hear on an Opeth album. I could swear Jim Matheos listened to Opeth quite a bit before coming up with that killer riff.
Unlike Disconnected, Matheos also plays a few sublime guitar solos on songs like "Stranger" and the album's finale "X". This one is going to put a smile on lots of old fans' face. The way it builds up right after the soft piano melody is absolutely beautiful. It's a shame that this is going to be the last album feauturing the godly Mark Zonder on drums because I simply can't imagine FW exploring this type of music with a different drummer. All four members are great on the album, but I particularly have to point out Joey Vera on bass, since I believe this could be his most subtle performance in FW to date. His bass lines in "Heal Me" and "Sequence #7" are terrific. Another good thing is to see Vera mentioned as a real member in the booklet as opposed to a 'guest musician'. I continue to be amazed at how great the chemistry is between all these musicians. Even though Jim Matheos is the main composer, each and every member has something to add to the mold of the songcraft. And it's this what makes Fates Warning so incredibly unique.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
2004 and all's well !, October 11, 2004
(4.5 stars) _FWX_ takes the band's post-prog where the criminally underrated _Disconnected_ leaves off, but is staking out much more confident territory. Spiking the brew with some futuristic psychadelic electronic textures and bringing in some of the heavier elements of vocalist Ray Alder and Joey Vera's Engine, this is a surprisingly satisfying disc from this talented group of musicians, who start out with the kind of sprawling multilayered, subtle beaut of a track in "Left Here" that only Fates Warning could write. The sounds of a gentle summer evening along with Matheos' warm and welcome acoustic ushers in the latest chapter in this Massachusetts band's saga of operating precisely just under the progressive metal radar. "Simple Human" is the kind of agressive track that would feel welcome on the last Engine album if it weren't for Mark Zonder's insistent, commanding 10/8 groove. (Unfortunately for longtime fans Mark will no longer be recording with the band, leaving some mighty big bass pedals to fill.) Speaking of drumbeats, you might get the illusion from some of the comments here that this music is "simple". Although nothing here is quite on par with the technicality and algebraic time signatures of _Perfect Symmetry_, awesome epic tracks like the middle-eastern tinged "River Wide Ocean Deep", with its swirling cosmic guitar intro, and the equally powerful, magnificently-built "Heal Me" are far, far away from paint-by-numbers progzak. "Another Perfect Day" could be the album's highlight and is a sterling example of the melodic side of Fates, with many clean contrasting poppy moods contrasting the heavy riffs and the imaginative, economic drum fills of Zonder. But the songwriters involved are so good at disguising the underlying complexity to service the song that it coheres perfectly. You feel the *song*, not the technical excercises. Compositions are woven together like a textural tapestry, crafted rather than thrown-together endless fast unison runs like many of Fates' contemporaries. And yet there are some out-and-out rockers like "Crawl" which are made by Zonder and Vera, who are a seamless rhythm section (even with the drums recorded separately from the rest of the instruments). With some deep cuts on albums like _Parallels_ and _Inside Out_ there was a tendency for tracks to lapse into the pop-metal mundane or exhibit a sameness. "Stranger(with a familar face)" courts this tendency here but saves itself with an excellent, rocking Matheos solo. The best complaint I can come up with is that even at 53 minutes, the album (like _Disconnected_) feels somewhat abbreviated. Overall only deepens the distinguished musical legacy these guys have left for us all, it sounds fantastic, and is an admirable contender for best metal album of 2004. Highly recommended, even for newcomers to this band.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Visiting old friends - Fates Warning and the FWX album, July 12, 2007
Whenever I find myself trying to discover new progressive metal acts, there is always one band I come back to. For some reason many people who love modern day prog metal acts of various styles barely seem to notice these guys, and it's a shame because they are attributed to be part of the pioneering branch of prog metal music. The band has a plethora of albums to their credit that span the past 22+ years, but one that I've really enjoyed of late is "FWX". This album has all the elements I look for in this genre of music, from strong songwriting to varying tempos and themes, haunting backdrops of rhythm that paint a variety of moods as well as some great riffs to help pump up the volume. Whether you like Dragonforce or Symphony X, Queensryche or Dream Theater, somewhere in the middle of them all is still Fates Warning.
FWX starts out with a slower but still powerful tune in "Left Here" before launching into an epic track called "Simple Human". Great backing vocals that keep things simple and guitar pieces that don't get carried away trying to play 10,000 notes a minute give me time to soak in the messages that come across in the poetic lyrics. The song "River Wide Ocean deep" has an eclectic guitar solo at the beginning with an almost oriental sounding opening before a female vocalist sings a sorrowful like chant in the background. Mystical is the word I'm looking for here, and its just one of many words that describes this song. The song "Heal Me" is much more of a mainstream rocker in many parts, and goes to show how diverse this band can be when spinning out a variety of varying sounds and structures within their music.
If you like a progressive style of music and perhaps are looking for something that is a break from the norm, look no further than Fates Warning and the album "FWX". The music is intelligent and complex, but at the same time they keep it simple enough so as not to drown a listener in boredom by repetition.
Eddie Lancekick
July 2007
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