Reign of the Architect: Rise

Wrapped in yet another mind-blowing piece of art by the great Eliran Kantor comes a hugely satisfying, sci-fi themed prog-metal album by newcomers who call themselves Reign of the Architect. They are by no means freshmen, though, as you may have already heard of both the band's guitarist Yuval Kramer (of the Israeli metallers Amaseffer) and one of the vocalists as well as the mastermind behind the whole concept of the album Yotam Avni (Prey for Nothing), and they are joined here by such acclaimed musicians as Mike LePond (Symphony X), Joost Van Den Broek (Ayreon, Star One) and Jeff Scott Soto.

Sounds pretty impressive already, doesn't it? But wait till you hear the actual music! It all starts with… "The End" - which is a misleadingly toned down introduction – but if you're looking for something that's truly wild at heart, you'll find it in track #2 called "Different Heart", the moment the rough male vocals barge in. A couple of tracks that follow it present a more restrained side of the band, with "Hymn to Loneliness" slowly building up to gain the full power within the final 2 minutes and "Such a Celebration" being a bit too grandiose and monotonous for its own good, but from track #6, "Leaking Wounds", the musicians proceed to show off their true potential and skull-crushing power. I believe, in fact, that "Leaking Wounds", with its hypnotic rhythm and all, will become a favorite of many listeners as it's definitely one of the strongest moments of the album for me personally. Not that the second part of Rise lacks damn good tracks, mind you! Consider also the atmospheric and melodic "Distant Similarities", the quiet but involving "One Single Sour Grape" or the movie soundtrack-like "I, the Architect" other worthy contenders to the title of the album's finest composition. Oh, and there's also something for the die-hard fans of Iced Earth: come the almighty chorus, "Crown of Shattered Dreams" will surely thrill them to the bone!

And no, these are not the only great tracks on the album, but do you really need to read about each and every of them when you already know that the whole thing's a killer? If you enjoy unpredictable prog-metal with an interesting story behind it, go and get Rise now – I don't think you'll be ever asking for your money back.

Tracklisting:
1. The End
2. Different Heart
3. Hymn to Loneliness
4. False
5. Such a Celebration
6. Leaking Wounds
7. Distant Similarities
8. One Single Sour Grape
9. As the Old Turns to Sorrow
10. I, the Architect
11. Secrets in the Hallway
12. Crown of Shattered Dreams
13. The Green Flame
14. We Must Retaliate
15. Hopeless War

Added: April 8th 2013
Reviewer: Bartek Paszylk
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 3372
Language: english

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