STYLE: Hard Music RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 14105-10135 LABEL: Bombworks FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1
Reviewed by Greg Sammons
Hailing from Brazil yet musically from the same ball park as Dream Theater, Stairway and Jacob's Dream, Amos give us something fresh to hear. Their style of music falls into the 'new-prog' genre that Dream Theater typify, although prog metal (with gothic undertones) is a better description. The fact is that if you like progressive metal, you'll get plenty from this - if you're not familiar with the genre then it'll probably sound rather dated to most ears. Like all good prog metal, it gets better with each listen. It is packed with beautiful imagery and thought-provoking lyrics. Akin to Jacob's Dream, the imagery is blatantly Christian and thankfully for us sang in English. "Pentecost" and "Ark of the Covenant" provide the highlights for me, both of which have plenty useful to say too. The album has some great guitar-work as its foundation with symphonic keyboards and layered melodic vocals on top. The production is solid with crisp guitar sounds and some nice drum/cymbal sounds brought out in the mix. Unfortunately, while the vocals have some great moments, there are also some shaky instances. The consequence is that we are sometimes left with a great song that sounds only average. Instrumentally though Amos are always above average. If they can get the vocals to be more consistent they could be a force to be reckoned with.
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