Aghora - Aghora (2000)^{Release ID: 9161}

One of the great tragedies in this world is that the band Cynic only managed to release one album before splitting up. Their combination of death metal, progressive metal, jazz and mysticism formed a truly breath-taking album called "Focus". It's an album that makes my jaw drop in disbelief every time I hear it. Why do I bring all this up? Because Aghora contained three members of Cynic at the time of this self-titled album. That's reason enough to get excited for me and while it would be incorrect to expect Aghora to play music in the same style as the previously mentioned band, at least you can be assured that you will get fantastic musicianship and a high level of creativity.

Aghora play progressive metal that is more in line with Dream Theater than Cynic. All members of the band are wonderfully gifted musicians, and yet this album never enters the realm of pretentiousness that can often go hand in hand with this form of music. In particular, the brilliance of bassist Sean Malone and drummer Sean Reinhert really stand out. I must admit, I rarely praise the work of bassists. In so many cases, I find it difficult to focus on what bassists are doing. Whether that is due to my lacking musical education, or more to do with the habit of four stringers being relegated to the back-row, I'm not entirely sure. But Malone's work on this album is captivating!

The vocalist plays a major role in Aghora, with female vocalist Danishta Rivero doing a more than decent job. Her vocals have an eastern sound to them that fits in perfectly with the sound. She is not aggressive in any way, nor is she operatic, but simply sings very well throughout. If I am to complain about any aspect of her performance, it would have to be her range. When she sings high, it doesn't sound very convincing and there are a couple of awkward moments.

Every track is beautifully crafted, although I must exclude the 11 minute "Jivatma" from that statement. It appears to be highly improvised, lacks the structure and class of surrounding tracks, and in my opinion detracts from the flow of "Aghora" as a whole. But highlights are aplenty with "Immortal Bliss", "Satya" (check out that bass line!) and "Kali Yuga" really catching my attention. This is an album that lovers of progressive music will surely dig, and I'm ecstatic at the revelation that Aghora have just released its follow-up after a 6 year wait. I for one will be checking it out.