Nine years have passed since the previous release of the LA, California based band lead and founded by guitarist Horacio Colmenares. "Solving For X" is the fourth full length album of NEW EDEN and is quite different from its predecessors. I found a bit of confusion concerning the style of the band as in their Facebook page the mention somewhere Progressive Metal and else Power / Heavy Metal and then again somewhere else Progressive Power Metal (...). While the old releases can be considered as Progressive Metal this one is definitely oriented towards US Power Metal forms and with heavily down-tuned guitars tends to Thrash.

I would be really straight forward with this record. I didn't like any song. The down-tuned guitars sound so ugly, the compositions are uninspired, and there is no feeling in the songs. It is just a stone wall of awkward Metal. I think that the killing blow of the record is the production and the whole direction of the sound production. It sounds like it is getting out of rails, like it is just something that doesn't fit at all. I did a quick browse on the older releases of the band to compare with "Solving For X" and see how things have evolved and if I am missing something or not understanding what direction the band wants to follow. I was really disappointed from what I found since this record has nothing to do with the old releases. They were not the best of their kind but surely they were more than decent.

Mathematically-wise speaking when we solve for x in a one variable equation we can either get one solution, infinite solutions or no solution. Unfortunately in this case solving for x output provides no solution.