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Since their inception during the early
eighties, "Fates Warning" have never done things by
the book. Always pushing the boundaries of what heavy rock music
was thought to depend on for its success, they've continually
evolved as a band, and re-defined what many of their followers
now appreciate as progressive metal. Though they've grown significantly
as true professionals in their field over the years, and endured
numerous lineup changes, they've remained committed to their
loyal followers and refused the temptation to alter their approach
to meet the demands for commercial appeal.
With their newest CD and first live recording,
"Still Life," they've yet again stretched the limits
with nearly two hours of timeless music culled from the best
of eight consecutive shows from their latest European tour in
support of last year's jaw-dropping masterpiece, "A Pleasant
Shade of Grey." For most bands, an album such as that, featuring
only one title with the whole of the song broken into twelve
intricate parts, might be a bit too risky in spite of their progressive
nature, and too much for the fans too swallow. But not for "Fates
Warning." So, for the encore, they've decided to include
the entire endeavor on disc one of "Still Life." All
accomplished musicians, the band performed the entire "song"
with their usual technical proficiency and confidence. The enlistment
of Jason Keazer, from Divine Regale, on keyboards really added
another atmospheric dimension that brought out the best in parts
VI and XII in particular.
For disc two, another unlikely trick was
turned. As if the hour-plus epic from before wasn't enough, this
one started out with "The Ivory Gate of Dreams," a
full twenty-minute marathon from their most defining record,
"No Exit." Recorded in 1987, this was the album that
solidified their musical direction, blending both the raw aggressiveness
that first characterized their origin as a metal band, with a
maturation that saw them expand their already diverse craftsmanship
as talented progressive-rock artists.
So now, after carefully opening "The
Ivory Gate," the band segues cleanly into "The Eleventh
Hour" and "Point of View" from 1991's "Parallels"
album, perhaps their most commercial to date. A couple of classic
surprises are thrown in with "At Fates Hands" and "Prelude
to Ruin," both going back toward their "Awaken the
Guardian" days and beyond. For this listener, it was good
to again hear those tarnished guitar-riffs of old which have
all but been replaced with the polished brass of that which symbolizes
their new. "Still Life" successfully highlights the
ongoing tradition of Fates Warning, encapsulating modern ideas
with a continuous cycle of new methods to create superior music
that remains as effective and challenging to the listener as
it did when they first produced the ripple some fifteen years
ago. |
