Sphere of Souls
are being described as an amalgamation of the “finest prog metal talent
the Netherlands has to offer”. Looking at the band line up of André
Vuurboom on vocals, Joost van den Broek on keyboards (both
ex Sun Caged), Anand Mahangoe on lead guitar (of solo Anand
fame), Former Autumn Equinox bassist Kees Harrison and
drummer Ruud van Diepen create the powerful backbone of the band,
whilst rhythm guitar duties are handled by former Imperium
guitarist Rob Cerrone – everything looks good on paper but
there's
no point making such claims if the finished product is not up to par.
Luckily, the music contained on ‘From The Ashes…’ stays away from
sounding like a clone of any of the members former bands and instead focuses
on creating a new sound and identity for the musicians.
Sphere Of Souls certainly has roots in progressive metal, but there is
often a more restraint approach and a willingness to incorporate a
darker more atmospheric edge into the musical passages. Simply
speaking the album never descends into
musical masturbation as so easily could have been the case given the
talent in the band.
'From The Ashes...' (the track) is as good an
example of what the album’s direction is about, with his big vocal hooks,
potent guitar hooks and über tight rhythm section. ‘Sweet Sorrow’
follows up with a extremely enchanting keyboard motif over simple big
chords from Mahangoe and Cerrone and this opening brace easily justify
the price of purchase alone.
The album then takes a very laid back approach for ‘Loss’ with a
highly personal vocal delivery from Vuurboom over simple clean guitar
and keyboard orchestrations in the background. This is followed up by ‘Beneath
The Surface’ which harks back to the sound heard on the two opening
numbers. It’s quite obvious that despite the potential for a mishmash of
sounds the musicians have developed their own sound which is sure to see
them win more praise rather than trying to ape former successes.
‘Empty’
possesses a punchy guitar track that is a nice blend of progressive
metal and more modern metal riffery, whilst ‘Until Death Do Us Part’
is arguably a highlight with its stop/start rhythm that pummels into
your brain like a pneumatic drill, Vuurboom’s vocals works exceedingly
well over the backing. ‘Extinct’ sees somewhat of a more
traditional progressive metal sound come into play, yet the track has
all the bands trademarks to keep you in no doubt who you are listening
to. The track is home to a very classy break down middle section which
sees a more airy mood enter the track before building again and leading
up to a fine solo from Anand.
‘Room 9’ starts off relatively laid back and the albums
production shines here, a darker chorus breaks the relative calm and
again it’s the use of light and shade that works well. ‘No Salvation’
demands attention right from the off thanks to its powerful riff which
leads into the guitars taking odd rhythm patterns whilst the keys keep
things on a more sociable level. Anand delivers another fine solo here,
perfectly suited to the mood of the track and the track ranks as another
highlight. ‘Untruth’ has a unique riff that is built upon with
lead guitar motifs and keyboard orchestrations, whilst the ultra-tight
rhythm section of Ruud van Diepen and Kees Harrison keep the bottom end
pounding. Despite the odd time signature Vurboom does a great job of
laying down a catchy melody (sometime this is where bands with lesser
ability fall down).
‘Lies Inc’
starts with some unison bends working against each other before one of
the albums heaviest and certainly fastest riffs kicks you in the guts,
this really allows Ruud van Diepen to show what his feet can do on the
double bass drums. Vurboom down tunes his vocals to suit the demonic
vibe. Whilst the style may be a little out of tune with the other
material, the chorus does provide some sense of familiarity but this
melding of styles is terrific. ‘Room 6’ sees the sound return to
the slower tempo mix of distorted and clean guitar passages which
utilise some very nice arpeggiated chords and another fine solo from
Anand. The closing track ‘Epilogue’ is a slow delicate song that
only features the piano of Joost van den Broek and vocals of André
Vuurboom and in a way this sense of calm and reflection allows the
listener to take stock of the last 58 minutes of music and bring you
back down from the listening experience – a nice touch.
With ‘From The Ashes…’ Sphere Of Souls have come up with a
very strong debut album. The musicians past credentials certainly
suggested that this would be good, and luckily the hype has been lived
up to. The album has all the right ingredients to appeal to a wide range
of metal fans. Some hardcore Sun Caged fans may be a little puzzled that
the album isn’t as progressively minded as that bands debut, but for
others this will be a bonus, with this album giving you the impression
that the track comes first and if it calls for instrumental overload it
will get it, otherwise it won’t. Another surprise was that the
production was not as slick as I perhaps expected, in hindsight this
works to the albums advantage as the guitar tones are not what you hear
on 99% of all other albums of this ilk adding more weight to the
original tag. The sound is more “live” as opposed to studio
“compressed” as well. Whatever your preference for sound, Sphere Of
Souls is a highly recommended release for fans of all metal genres and
the band have an extremely solid foundation to start from.
