Virtual Symmetry
Exoverse

The Swiss-Italian symmetry is a virtual one and now it comes with a second album, Exoverse is their second album that is, judging by its title, taking us way outside out own cosmic neighbourhood. They released their first album in 2016 and an EP the year after, now they come up with eight tracks and eons of playing time. They are said to have garnered some interest for their cinematic and epic metal, Hallowed hasn’t looked at what they are offering before this one, so our first meeting with the band takes us outside the universe.

A progressive album, quite common progressive stylings where some parts feels almost copied from bands like Dream Theater and their peers. It builds strong atmospheres in broad strokes, not groundbreaking in any regard but it works quite well. There is variation and the album have decent depth over the eight tracks. They add complexities and thing to their more atmospheric stuff, and they can be described as taking the tried and tested routes and not really trying something different or progressive, they remain far from an exoverse.

Solid effort, solid songs, solid everything, but it isn’t really that exciting, the album presses the right buttons but never really goes out there, or risks anything. The progressive genre is all about progressing forward, it was about that back in the day, not it is mostly paint by numbers like everything else in the world of music. There are exceptions but Virtual Symmetry is not one of those. Sure, Exoverse doesn’t have any obvious flaws, but after listening a while you come to think that it is too long and that there are parts that feels ripped off from other albums that you have heard sometime in the past. I would not call observations like that positive, had they cut down the album about 30 minutes it would probably have ended up far more interesting than this end result.

They don’t understand the “less is more” phrase and they clearly doesn’t understand that you need to dismiss some of your ideas in order to make a strong album. These guys don’t really get there, they end up making an album that is quite solid but not exciting and not very progressive, far from going out of the universe. It is however an album that will please most people enjoying the progressive metal genre.

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