Fates Warning
Darkness In a Different Light

Fates Warning sees the darkness in a different light in their eleventh album, an album that sees the light of day nine years after the latest effort. It has been a long wait for the fans of this, one of the pioneering bands of the progressive metal genre but it wasn’t until Perfect Symmetry in 1989 they started to develop the sound that they have showcased ever since. In different iterations for different albums, but still in a very similar style. I think that maybe FWX was somewhat different from most of their works until then. This album has a pretty cool cover art and it looks like a Fates Warning album should look and with Matheos and Alder at the helm it can’t really fail, can it?

It hasn’t so far and this album showcases the typical trademarks of a Fates Warning album without being the same as any of them. They have a minimalistic approach to their progressive metal, with songs built around simple melodies with mainly guitars and no keyboards, samples or such things. It is a different take on the genre and they have perfected the craft over the years since Perfect Symmetry that arrived in 1989. The production is really impressive, the sound is excellent and the songs build on a dystopic premise. This is an excellent production, much as we can expect from a band of Fates Warnings caliber.

Darkness in a Different Light is a brilliant album, not only an excellent production but also a band that excels at what they are doing. I love this album, it has everything one could want. I think that in many ways it may be the best album by Fates Warning, in other ways it may not be the best they have done as it is not that different from what we have heard before, yet it is a bit different but not enough to feel as though we are treated to something new and exciting, just a logical evolvement of what Fates Warning have already done. And it is not as good as A Pleasant Shade of Gray or Perfect Symmetry which are my two favourite albums by this band. It is better made, sounds better but it is not as good.

I think we are treated to a great album here, one that is worthy of a place on my top ten list of 2013. And then you ask me why not a higher rating? Well, the answer is that we have heard this kind of stuff before from these guys so the novelty effect that elevates an album to another level is a bit amiss. And the fact that it is not the best album by the band also adds to that effect. But of course it is a brilliant album, what did you expect? It is a new album by Fates Warning, that is a mark of quality. A Highly recommended album, there is no other word for it.

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