http://www.myspace.com/arcaneaustralia
Progressive Metal melódico bastante acima da média.
As unfair as it can be to accuse one band of sounding like another, sometimes there’s just no denying it. In the way that Airbourne sounds like AC/DC and ‘neath sounds like Opeth, Brisbane’s Arcane sounds like Pain of Salvation. Being compared so immediately with such a prominent band in their field can have its drawbacks, but really only if your interpretation is second-rate.
Therefore, Arcane don’t have too many problems, because here is an extremely well-played and well-crafted concept album of melodic progressive metal that would easily stand beside any other album by any better known band of their ilk. Indeed, if there’s a major difference between the two bands, it is that Arcane’s concept clicks much easier than those of PoS, and isn’t cluttered with that band’s odious pseudo-intellectualism. This isn’t to suggest that Arcane don’t make intelligent music; far from it. It’s more like a comparison between Umberto Eco and Richard Dawkins – one no less intelligent than the other, but one is far more readable.
One of the album’s best tricks is that it doesn’t include a lyric sheet, thereby forcing a greater level of concentration on the listener to follow the story of Acolyte Zero, a man obsessed with May 26. Such a theme is dark, of course and with their sweeping arrangements, Arcane match the music to the words. Their hour-long drama mixes in flute-like melody lines in rousing folk-metal sections such as during “The Malice” and, very late in the piece, throw up some clashing, truly heavy riffs in the latter half of “Asylum: Acolyte Zero” and each main movement is broken up with an interlude piece. The highlight is the majestic “Fading”, the twelve-minute centrepiece that represents Zero’s final tipping point. Arcane fills it with dark and luscious melodies and harmonising guitar and keys, a signature of their sound.
Like Voyager's album, Arcane’s Chronicles of the Waking Dream is clear proof that Australia’s progressive metal scene is the equal of that found anywhere.
Rating: 87%
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