Progressive Metal Reviews
Progressive Metal Reviews
Shadow Gallery |
Shadow Gallery is : Carl Cadden-James on Bass, Vocals, Flute Brendt Allman on Guitars, Vocals Chris Ingles on Piano, Synthesizer Gary Wehrkamp on Guitar, Piano, Synthesizer, Vocals Joe Nevolo on Drums Mike Baker on Lead Vocals The tracks are : Act I 1. Stiletto In The Sand (1:57) 2. War for Sale (5:35) 3. Out Of Nowhere (4:20) 4. Mystery (5:42) 5. Hope For Us? (6:00) 6. Victims (5:13) 7. Broken (1:54) Act II 8. I Believe (8:41) 9. Roads of Thunder (6:06) 10. Spoken Words (4:38) 11. New World Order (8:11) 12. Chased (4:36) 13. Ghost Of A Chance (5:19) 14. Christmas Day (5:40) Pennsylvanian six piece progressive metal outfit Shadow Gallery are building a hell of a reputation for themselves at present as top class musicians and songwriters. With the release of their new album Tyranny which can only be described as progressive metal at it's very best will surely put them up right up with the best in this field. With a guest list that reads like the who's who of progressive music (Dream Theater's James LaBrie and Royal Hunt's D.C. Cooper to name but two). Shadow Gallery conjour up a sound best described as Queensryche mixed with Genesis with a bit of Queen added in for good measure. The concept behind Tyranny is one of Military Intelligence, Internet Hacking, family death, pure greed and an open ended cry for human affection amongst other things. The main charcter starts as a top military specialist, but gets sacked for pointing out the insanity of arms sales to both sides of the Iran/Iraq conflict. Our hero then finds a new life and love via the internet, who just happens to be a info-terrorist with an interest in government hacking. As minions of a developing one world government cause him to flea as far as North Dakota he yearns to meethis online angel in person. All the while experiencing earth shattering revelations of apocalyptic hellfire from the four horsemen themselves and theres a twist to this tale which i will come to later. Tyranny is played out over two acts and fourteen songs featuring first rate guitar work, superb vocals, in fact this album has so much going for it, it's best listened through headphones at first. Because with so much going on your bound to miss something which would be a real shame, sure go with the flow if you wish, but you'll miss out on some fine moments. Act I, starts with a fine instrumental 'Stiletto in The Sand' a real rouser of a track featuring guitar and synth. 'War For Sale' sees Shadow Gallery once again in full flow and a first introduction to their fine vocal talents, layered once more with some fine guitar solos. this is one of many highlights Tyranny possesses. The musicianship and songwriting throughout is first class. But as per usual where aan album of this genre is concerned it's the little things that turn an Ok album into something special. Tyranny has many of these, from the flute on 'Out Of Nowhere' to the piano link between 'Mystery' and 'Hope For Us'coupled with some fine vocals that make a rather complex story line dead easy to follow. But it's ACT II from 'I Believe' to the finale of 'Christmas Day' that Shadow Gallery show what they're really made of, the interlink between sogs are breathtaking in parts and this gives the whole album real atmosphere. 'I Believe' is a semi-rock ballad of earth shattering proportions played out with a fine Queen like guitar solo. But the highlight of the whole album has to be 'Spoken Word', relying on piano and vocals as it's source of inspiration, this beautiful ballad features Laura Jaeger's vocal talents as well as first class orchestral arrangements and sends a shiver down your spine for all the right reasons. Well, that's about it!. Oh, before i go remember that twist i was telling you about earlier. Well the whole thing finishes with 'Christmas Day' where our hero is finally due to meet the love of his (new) life. But do they ever meet? Well, we don't really find out. Which leaves me to thinking is there going to be a Tyranny 2 ?. Tyranny in my mind has all the making of a prog-classic and should be on top of every music fans shopping list!!! Tyranny is released by Magna Carta Records. 208 E.51st St. Suite 1820 New York, N.Y. 10022 Website : http://www.magnacarta.net/ In the UK from Magna Carta/Roadrunner Records : Website : http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/ Shadow Gallery Website : http://www.shadowgallery.com |
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Legacy
Shadow Gallery |
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Lush, luxurious and quite unusual inasmuch as we usually don't expect to see a "part II' as the opening track to an album. Shadow Gallery's "Clliffhanger 2" begins things-and actually draws to a close some thirteen minutes later while in between a wealth of progressive instrumental arrangements and chordal intricacies wither in and around the listening consciousness. To the virgin listener, "Cliffhanger 2" picks up an incomplete story from six years earlier and their "Carved In Stone" sophomore release. While the term "Progressive" is to an extent redundant taken its literal extremes, Shadow Gallery plays with a vision toward the future while currently employing avant-garde nuances and new age tactics in a gracefully textured outpouring of Metal rhythms and wondrous melodies. Interesting to read the band bio and discover a statement that Shadow Gallery, progressive technicians though they are, behold a uniqueness that one is hard pressed to recall within the quickly growing ranks-true enough, while many a progressive band/artist often draws on the same musical strengths and towering song structures that the genre is built upon, Shadow Gallery, employing the typically tried and true measures often come through independently-from out of the "shadows" in some odd way, fascinating, sometimes frenzied in their delivery, but usually all their own. What stands out for me with "Legacy" is that the songs, while tempered in never even the slightest manner, seem to approach the song more as a whole without the confusing aspects of the overdone technical splicing that often interferes. This is no way suggests the six players that form Shadow Gallery are inferior songwriters or undedicated to their craft, to the contrary, the skillful playing is ever present but with a more listenability and less virtuosic ramblings-picture Kansas-like vocal harmonies, Rush-like motives, Savatage-like storytelling, all presented with a slightly dark yet wise B.O.C.-like undercurrent with a full bore electric ensemble that raises the magnitude and open chord oscillation to level ten and beyond. Magna Carta Records.
208 E.51st St. Suite 1820 New York, N.Y. 10022 Shadow Gallery Website : http://www.shadowgallery.com Review by Vinnie
Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] |