Progressive Metal quintet OVERKHAOS formed in Taranto, Southern Italy in 2013. Not having a website or being able to read Italian, I was not able to gather any more information on the band here. But, I will note that lately I have had a lot of music to review from Italy, and much of it has been fantastic. Being fans of bands as DREAM THEATER, SYMPHONY X, OPETH, and ANIMALS AS LEADERS, you probably can't go wrong here anyway. "Beware of Truth" is their new album in 2017, and contains ten new tracks.

"Prelude" is a three minute introductory track. There is a wonderful balance here of guitar and keys while the bass and drums hold down the bottom end. The rhythms are punchy and some time changes highlight their instrumental prowess. "Silent Death" has some Symphonic elements which I am not surprised to hear, as the two sub-genres can blend pretty well in this area. I have to admit the harsh vocals were a bit of a surprise, but again not uncommon today in really almost all genres of Metal. Like the Melodic Death genre, what they bring to the table is about diversity, a cornerstone in Progressive Metal. "Solar Starvation" has a bossy set of riffs and a hastened sound with some dreamy harmonized vocals. It's heavy and aggressive but also very melodic. The clean vocals in the upper ranges are glass-shattering. They really have a commanding grip in this song.

"Khaos" has thin layers of a misty fog at first that you move through slowly, with some tender elements that pick up sonically along the way. The death vocal passage sees the shadow of a beast entire the mist and blacken out your perception. "The Lie You Need" reminds me somewhat of the band SILENT FORCE. As I mentioned before, there is more genre blending here than just straight up Prog. Elements of Symphonic and ever Power Metal can be heard here and there as well. Keys occupy a nice part of this song as well, and the solo sections are on point. When you talk about that wonderful balance between weighted anger and accessible melody, "Crumbling" is a pretty fine example. The impossibly high clean vocals can send shivers for sure, climbing up a ladder that disappears in the clouds.

"White Light" has an ethereal opening that gives way to a strong rhythm and euphoric vocal harmonies that hang in the air like a clinging dew that is sweet in concentration. The harder passages see the rhythm shift from inside of your head to your feet as you pound along. "Anna's Song" shows a sophistication in a track that pretty much has everything you would want...a furious keyboard solo...a marked darkness...a punishing rhythm...key and time changes...a strong vocal performance in both the clean and harsh realm...and some moving dreamy passages. "Deadline" closes the album; an eight-minute opus. There is a lot of beauty in the smoky haze of the night. This song is a journey through space and time, where your senses are heightened and you feel things on a level that you haven't experience before. It's truly a magnificent sound.

As I write these final words, I find that I am both appalled at myself that I have never heard the band before, and excited that I finally have. Calling it Progressive Metal is a good start but there is a lot of other wonderful things going on here in this album "Beware of Truth." It is an album that will demand several listens to uncover all of its glorious secrets that are hidden in layers outside of your normal consciousness. But these complexities aside, it is also just so easy to listen to if you take it at face value. This belongs on every Prog lover's top albums of 2017 for sure.