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Odin's Court:
Driven by Fate
Several months ago, I reviewed Odins Courts debut EP. Now theyre back with a prog-tastic metal full-length, Driven by Fate. As it turns out, the new album includes re-recordings of the EP material combined with just as much new material. Right off the bat, I have to say that Driven by Fate beats the EP hands down. The songwriting is better, the playing is tighter, and the longer length gives the album a much more complete feel. To begin with, I like the stylistic diversity of the album. Youve got the impressive progressive rocker D2C, some excellent atmospheric pieces such as Discretion Rising and Surreal Contemplations, and the interesting multi-part Paradise Lost. Clearly some of the more ambitious material on the album, the Paradise Lost suite of songs is an epic-to-end-all-epics prog-metal extravaganza. Chapter Onewith its keyboard Enya choir and snare drum marchsounds like the victorious Viking gods riding their longboats through the glistening ocean. Damn its um, cheesy, but prog-metal fans will eat it up. Chapter Two includes some dark atmospheric guitar work and interesting ambient instrumentation (including a recurring horn sound that I found annoying at first but later quite addictive). Chapter Three is easily an album highlight. The middle section breaks into the most distinctive moment on the album. The whole band completely rocks out at this point, led by a wickedly cool guitar riff and some great pounding drum fills. The guitar playing is excellent on these songs (and throughout the album for that matter) and remains focused despite all the shredding. Stylistically, I am reminded (in a good way) of David Gilmour, Adrian Smith, and early John Petrucci. What I really appreciate about Driven by Fate is the careful attention to song-craft. Many so-called prog bands tend to go insane with their instruments, which is all good and well until the band forgets that they are writing songs. Despite the instrumental complexities of the album, I think that Odins Court manages to retain a song oriented approach that allows for experimentation while simultaneously keeping the music grounded. I see only two weaknesses with Driven by Fate. First, echoing a reservation I expressed in my earlier review, Odins Courts vocals are very different. Some may find them to be a bit out of control. Second, I think that some of the ambient sounds and keyboard patches border on falling into faux symphonic clichs. I guess you need to have a high tolerance for dramatic music to enjoy this kind of thing. That said, these reservations take little away from my overall positive impression of the album. If you enjoy awesome prog-metal bands such as Symphony-X and Dream Theater, then Odins Court has some exciting music in store for you. And if Odins Court continues to up the bar as they have on Driven by Fate, then Ill be quite eager to see what they come up with next.
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