I have said countless times before that I have totally lost my interest in the Progressive Metal scene. Actually, this happened to me with the Scene From A Memory release by DREAM THEATER that sounded way too complicated for my ears. So, whenever a promo release comes to my hands with the Progressive label on the bio-sheet a feeling of nausea kind of builds in my stomach. You can imagine how I felt when the album entitled 21st Century Brain Damage reached my office under the band moniker PROGRESSIVEXPERIENCE.
The six piece band hails from Italy and this release is the second one after the debut X. The lineup features the latest addition of Andrea Ranfagni who took over the vocal duties.
The first thing I noticed when Progressivexperience - pt1 entered was that the album has a raw production especially in the drums. Fortunately for me, the song structure is not overloaded with long guitar solos and too much tempo changes. This song is heavy with high pitched vocals and strong keyboard melodies that follow the old school Progressive Metal recipe looking towards bands like FATES WARNING. The bio sheet informs us that the album tells a story about the difficulty and survival in a crumbled and alienating metropolitan society justifying the addition of the term concept.
The Great Illusion welcomes some down tuned BLACK SABBATH riff influences keeping a safe distance from the over-complicated and difficult to digest song structure. Generally, this applies to the entire album convincing me to give the Italians additional credit for not following the late DREAM THEATER way. In this, help the guitar riffs that are most of the times simple and catchy leaving a distinct Metal feeling in almost all the tracks like in the instrumental Taurus Littrow 20.19080 N-30.77168 E with the excellent clean guitar solo.
So, if you are interested in the early Progressive Metal then let PROGRESSIVEXPERIENCE tell their story with 21st Century Brain Damage. Otherwise move on to the next METAL TEMPLE review.