Six pieces of noble cheese
Traditional
progressive metal is often considered to be cheesy, stagnant and
derivative. Let's see... "traditional" and "progressive". Not a very
fortunate choice of words. Isn't the first one an antonym of the other
one? Well, it is, usually. Distorted Harmony managed to bend the rules
of semantics though. UTOPIA is dripping with traditional prog metal
elements - keyboards, synths and virtuosity. All this, however, is just a
wrapping for some really well-crafted, inventive and emotionally
charged metal music.
As usual, production is not without
significance. What often bothers me about modern prog releases, is that
the sound feels overproduced and artificial. Fortunately, UTOPIA's sound
is indeed polished yet infused with a healthy dose of organic sharpness
and spiced with a pinch of old-school prog rock softness. As a result,
all assets of the album - intricate passages, theme changes with
underlying symphonic prog basis - are well highlighted.
"Apparently
Michael Bublé wouldn't be so dull if he stopped rehashing ideas of
Frank Sinatra and started a prog metal band." That's what I thought
right after hearing Misha Soukhinin's voice in "Kono Yume". His vocals
are one of the best things about Distorted Harmony, no joke! Expressive,
well trained and original. Especially when compared to typical prog
metal vocalists, trying to sound like James LaBrie or Geoff Tate.
Misha's voice reminds me of Michael Bublé (darn, I feel like I shouldn't
be saying this) and his timbre suits the music very well. As for the
music, UTOPIA consists of six intricate compositions, deeply rooted in
classic progressive metal and underlaid with strong symphonic prog rock
element. All that tinged with Opeth's eclectic approach to harmony
and... some pop catchiness. At times I feel like some of the cheesy
parts could have been avoided but as a whole, UTOPIA is a top-notch
progressive metal release.
I'm not by any means a fan of
traditional progressive metal. I don't like Dream Theater and
Queensrÿche get on my nerves. Still, I really like this album. So, even
if you're not into this sub-genre of metal music, give Distorted Harmony
a chance to, ermm... distort your tastes... clumsy pun, eh?
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