Arch / Matheos - Winter Ethereal (2019)^{Release ID: 13880}

John Arch is a treasure of heavy metal vocalists and should be protected at all costs. The fact that he can still belt these high notes with such precision at 60 is ridiculous. He and Rob Halford must be talking a lot.

As for the album itself, I really like this. This is the kind of modernization of 1980s Fates Warning that I never knew I wanted. Only one problem: Fates Warning are still making music this decade. And some of it is more advanced progressive metal than most of this album. I find that many of the songs run together after awhile. There isn't much in the way of dynamic contrast on this album, which is understandable considering Arch's powerful delivery. However, a moment of reprieve would have been appreciated. They tried with "Tethered", but as mentioned before, Arch's vocals are front and center and take a lot of focus away from the gorgeous instrumental.

If you're going into this album looking forward to a (for lack of a better term) straightforward, progressive metal experience, similar to that of The Spectre Within or Awaken the Guardian, then you've come to the right place. You'll love tracks such as "Wrath of the Universe" and "Never in Your Hands". And there is always a place for this; Fates Warning were one of the metal groups, along with Opeth, that helped introduce me to the heavier genres. And being able to hear 80s Fates Warning with a coat of 2010s paint is really cool.

But if your expecting something a little more... in depth, you might be left disappointed. With all of the different directions that progressive metal has gone in the last thirty years, you would think that Arch and Matheos would have implemented something new. Hell, Matheos still plays for Fates Warning, he could have brought some of that modern, progressive songwriting to this.

I realize that some of this criticism is based on a personal bias that I have towards the performers and could make this review come off as more negative than it should. Believe me, this album is a ton of fun and will please even the most diehard of fans.