Appearance of Nothing - "All Gods Are Gone" CD Review (Escape Music)

Swiss prog-metal band Appearance of Nothing released their second disc, All Gods Are Gone, at the beginning of the this year and the band does an excellent job of combining the best elements of 70's/80's prog-rock with some hard-edged metal riffs.

Appearance of Nothing was founded in 2004 by Pat Gerber (Vocals/Guitar), Yves Luthi (Drums), Omar Cuna (Vocals/Bass) and Marc Petralito (Keys). The band released a self-produced demo Behind Closed Doors in 2005 after which the band added a second lead guitarist Peter Berger. The band's first full-length was Wasted Time (2008) which was recorded with Markus Teske (Vanden Plas, Symphony X).

On this new disc, the band is once again working with Markus Teske and the disc's seven tracks run the gamut from prog-rock to symphonic power metal and there are even some elements of thrash in the mix. The disc clocks in just shy of fifty minutes which gives the band ample time within each song to build out some memorable melodies which are rich with vocal harmonies. While Appearance of Nothing (AON) employ both clean and death metal vocals (courtesy of Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Nightingale)), this is nothing like a metal-core album. The band's soaring symphonic melodies combined with Pat and Omar's clean vocal harmonies are closer to "metalized" version of bands like Queen and Asia.

The band changes tempos and structures both within and between songs and they do an excellent job of balancing the heavy with the sublime. The twin lead-guitars of Pat Gerber and Peter Berger soar with clean, melodic leads and crash with thrashing riffs while Yves Luthi pounds on the double-bass. Marc Petralito's melodic keyboards are an important part of the band's sound and are highlighted on a number of tracks, which include the instrumental outro "The Rise and Fall of Nothing".

One of the more striking songs is "Sweet Enemy", which features Devon Graves (ex-Psychotic Waltz/Deadsoul Tribe) on lead vocals and the three-part vocal harmonies end up sounding somewhat like Queen. In a recent interview with Rock Area, Pat Gerber said "As we finished “sweet enemy” we decided to ask Devon Graves to sing some parts of this song. We all felt, that his dramatic and melancholic voice would fit perfect. Now that we hear the result we know that it was the perfect choice."



Links:
Appearance of Nothing

Crack The Sky - "Machine" CD Review

DOWNLOAD: Crack The Sky - Machine Demos (Authorized Bootleg)

Growing up in Baltimore in the late 70s/early 80s, Crack The Sky was one of the biggest bands in town and always seemed on the verge of breaking out. The band toured with numerous established acts (like Yes, ELO, Frank Zappa, Styx, etc.) and routinely sold-out 1,000+ capacity venues in Baltimore so everyone believed that the band's brand of thinking man's prog rock would reach a universal audience. Crack the Sky's debut LP was released in 1975 and Rolling Stone magazine called it the "debut album of the year" and now, in the 35th year of their career, Crack the Sky have released their fourteenth studio album Machine.

Machine follows 2008's The Sale and, like recent Crack the Sky albums, continues with the band's Pink Floyd meets Steely Dan sound. The arrangements are lush and epic and band leader/songwriter John Palumbo's lyrics have all the cynicism and bite of a Steely Dan song. Lyrically, Machine is a concept album about machines taking over at the end of the Mayan Calendar (12/21/12) and mankind's slow slide to their inevitable doom. In an interview with RAYSREALM, John Palumbo compares The Sale to Machine by saying "The Sale is a task to listen to. I realized that after trying to listen to it. I got carried away. I consider it more of a novel than a record. The new Cd, MACHINE, now in the hands of Ricky and Bobby, is even darker. The Sale ended with some hope, MACHINE does not. Cheery, huh?"

Crack the Sky's music has aged well over the years and Machine is a worthy addition to collection of any prog-rock fan. Throughout my college years, mentions of Crack the Sky always drew blank looks so I was looking on YouTube for a video to embed that will showcase the band's sound. These days, Crack the Sky doesn't play live too often so it isn't surprising that there aren't any live videos from Machine posted. For anyone whose curiosity is piqued, a good starting point would be to download the demos from Machine (free download - link is at the top of this post) and check out the live video of the song "Ice" (which is from CTS' debut disc).



Links:
Crack The Sky

Masterplan - "Far From the End of the World" CD EP Review

German progressive/power metal band Masterplan has released a new CD EP, "Far From the End of the World", as an advance 'teaser' for their forthcoming fourth album Time To Be King. Time To Be King will be released on May 21st (on AFM Records) and features the return of original vocalist Jørn Lande.

There are two new tracks on the single "Far From the End of the World" and "Lonely Winds of War" along with a radio edit of "Far From the End of the World". I haven't heard any of the earlier Masterplan releases so - to compare to other bands - these two songs fall closely in line with the Dio-era of Rainbow. "Far from the End of the World" is a rocker that is driven by Lande's vocals and complemented by some clean guitar lines, soaring solos and a swirling, proggy keyboard. "Lonely Winds of War" falls clearly in the Rainbow camp and starts with a acoustic guitar and flute before moving into a riff-oriented power ballad.



Here is the full track list for Time to Be King:

01. Time To Be King
02. Fiddle Of Time
03. Lonely Winds of War
04. Blue Europa
05. Far From The End Of The World
06. The Dark Road
07. Under The Moon
08. Blow Your Winds
09. The Black One
10. The Sun Is In Your Hands
11. Kisses From You (bonus track)
12. Never Walk Alone (Japanese bonus track)

Links:
Masterplan