Tech Metal Renaissance in 2006! (Zero Hour, Twisted Into Form)
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Posted by Matt Johnsen on 2005-06-10 12:58:43:
On Wednesday I went over to The Golden One's luxurious New Jersey compound for an evening of fine grillin' and tech metal. While the food was great, I don't think that's of much interest to readers of this board. However, I think some might be interested in the two bands we listened to, Twisted Into Form and Zero Hour.
I was most interested in TiF. I know what to expect, more or less, from Zero Hour, although I was certainly curious to hear the new singer. TiF, though, with the old second guitarist from Spiral Architect and the session guy who sang on Spiral's demo, had me really excited. I knew enough not to expect brilliance on the level of A Sceptic's Universe, but honestly, Twisted Into Form come pretty close! If you've heard the Spiral Architect demo, the entire Twisted Into Form album is more or less a continuation of that. It's slightly less technical than Spiral became (as Kaj, while quite good, is not the guitarist that Steinar is) but it's still very technical. The drums (courtesy of the guy in Extol) are well played and natural-sounding, and the bass (played by someone I don't know) is very well played (if not to the exceptionally standards set by Spiral's Lars Norberg.) The songs were good, the melodies were catchy, and the singing was great (for the most part. There were a few places that sounded a little pitchy, but I would expect that to be sorted out with the remix. More on that later.) As we all know, true tech metal is pretty rare, so it was really exciting to hear this stuff, and so long before it will come out. The album, as it's recorded now, is only 38 minutes long, but two more songs are going to be tracked, and the whole thing will be mixed/remixed by Neil Kernon. Woo! It already sounded pretty good, but I think the polish Neil can put on things will certainly do a lot to make this at least a worthy stopgap between Sceptic's Universe and the second album we all hope and pray Spiral Architect will eventually record.
As for Zero Hour, we only listened to about half of the album (because it was getting late) but I liked what I heard. It sounded pretty similar, overall, to Towers of Avarice, although the sound was much warmer. The new singer is also quite good. He maybe doesn't have as much character in his voice, but he sings very well, reminding me a little of the guy in Andromeda (the newer guy, not the original guy.) He also harmonized with himself a lot, which is something Eric rarely did, for some reason. There was one song in particular that stood out - it was slower and built up from a brooding clean intro that featured some very cool and deep vocal harmonies. The sound was very good, and we weren't even listening to a mastered copy, so it will only get better. It's hard to say, of course, from one listen, but I think that people who liked Towers will also like this album. Zero Hour's music is not particularly immediate, though, and I'll need to hear the whole thing several times before I can really say if it's better or worse than their last. I'm looking forward to the opportunity.
There's a third tech metal release on Ken's schedule, but I think as yet it's a secret. I've heard that, too, and it's also fantastic
I'm a little ashamed of myself, now, for having just kissed so much Golden ass, but I've never made a secret of the fact that I respect and admire Ken's label and his bands, and after a bit of a lull in late 2004/early 2005, it seems he's really back on track with some of the best prog metal money can buy : Circus Maximus, Pantommind, Redemption, Zero Hour, Twisted Into Form, etc. Keep up the good work, Ken!
Matt
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Posted by Matt Johnsen on 2005-06-10 12:58:43:
On Wednesday I went over to The Golden One's luxurious New Jersey compound for an evening of fine grillin' and tech metal. While the food was great, I don't think that's of much interest to readers of this board. However, I think some might be interested in the two bands we listened to, Twisted Into Form and Zero Hour.
I was most interested in TiF. I know what to expect, more or less, from Zero Hour, although I was certainly curious to hear the new singer. TiF, though, with the old second guitarist from Spiral Architect and the session guy who sang on Spiral's demo, had me really excited. I knew enough not to expect brilliance on the level of A Sceptic's Universe, but honestly, Twisted Into Form come pretty close! If you've heard the Spiral Architect demo, the entire Twisted Into Form album is more or less a continuation of that. It's slightly less technical than Spiral became (as Kaj, while quite good, is not the guitarist that Steinar is) but it's still very technical. The drums (courtesy of the guy in Extol) are well played and natural-sounding, and the bass (played by someone I don't know) is very well played (if not to the exceptionally standards set by Spiral's Lars Norberg.) The songs were good, the melodies were catchy, and the singing was great (for the most part. There were a few places that sounded a little pitchy, but I would expect that to be sorted out with the remix. More on that later.) As we all know, true tech metal is pretty rare, so it was really exciting to hear this stuff, and so long before it will come out. The album, as it's recorded now, is only 38 minutes long, but two more songs are going to be tracked, and the whole thing will be mixed/remixed by Neil Kernon. Woo! It already sounded pretty good, but I think the polish Neil can put on things will certainly do a lot to make this at least a worthy stopgap between Sceptic's Universe and the second album we all hope and pray Spiral Architect will eventually record.
As for Zero Hour, we only listened to about half of the album (because it was getting late) but I liked what I heard. It sounded pretty similar, overall, to Towers of Avarice, although the sound was much warmer. The new singer is also quite good. He maybe doesn't have as much character in his voice, but he sings very well, reminding me a little of the guy in Andromeda (the newer guy, not the original guy.) He also harmonized with himself a lot, which is something Eric rarely did, for some reason. There was one song in particular that stood out - it was slower and built up from a brooding clean intro that featured some very cool and deep vocal harmonies. The sound was very good, and we weren't even listening to a mastered copy, so it will only get better. It's hard to say, of course, from one listen, but I think that people who liked Towers will also like this album. Zero Hour's music is not particularly immediate, though, and I'll need to hear the whole thing several times before I can really say if it's better or worse than their last. I'm looking forward to the opportunity.
There's a third tech metal release on Ken's schedule, but I think as yet it's a secret. I've heard that, too, and it's also fantastic
I'm a little ashamed of myself, now, for having just kissed so much Golden ass, but I've never made a secret of the fact that I respect and admire Ken's label and his bands, and after a bit of a lull in late 2004/early 2005, it seems he's really back on track with some of the best prog metal money can buy : Circus Maximus, Pantommind, Redemption, Zero Hour, Twisted Into Form, etc. Keep up the good work, Ken!
Matt
