Search - Fates Warning :: Fwx

Visiting old friends - Fates Warning and the FWX album

Eddie Lancekick | Pacific Northwest | 07/12/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Whenever I find myself trying to discover new progressive metal acts, there is always one band I come back to. For some reason many people who love modern day prog metal acts of various styles barely seem to notice these guys, and it's a shame because they are attributed to be part of the pioneering branch of prog metal music. The band has a plethora of albums to their credit that span the past 22+ years, but one that I've really enjoyed of late is "FWX". This album has all the elements I look for in this genre of music, from strong songwriting to varying tempos and themes, haunting backdrops of rhythm that paint a variety of moods as well as some great riffs to help pump up the volume. Whether you like Dragonforce or Symphony X, Queensryche or Dream Theater, somewhere in the middle of them all is still Fates Warning.



FWX starts out with a slower but still powerful tune in "Left Here" before launching into an epic track called "Simple Human". Great backing vocals that keep things simple and guitar pieces that don't get carried away trying to play 10,000 notes a minute give me time to soak in the messages that come across in the poetic lyrics. The song "River Wide Ocean deep" has an eclectic guitar solo at the beginning with an almost oriental sounding opening before a female vocalist sings a sorrowful like chant in the background. Mystical is the word I'm looking for here, and its just one of many words that describes this song. The song "Heal Me" is much more of a mainstream rocker in many parts, and goes to show how diverse this band can be when spinning out a variety of varying sounds and structures within their music.



If you like a progressive style of music and perhaps are looking for something that is a break from the norm, look no further than Fates Warning and the album "FWX". The music is intelligent and complex, but at the same time they keep it simple enough so as not to drown a listener in boredom by repetition.



Eddie Lancekick

July 2007

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