The formation 'Fates Warning' which did not release albums for ten years between 2004 and 2013, has made good progress since because 'Long Day Good Night' is their 3rd studio recording after 'Darkness in a Different Light' in 2013 and 'Theories of Flight' in 2016, 2017 and 2018 having seen the release of respectively 'Awaken the Guardian Live' and 'Live Over Europe'. With this 'Long Day Good Night', we are in the continuity of the previous opus with a sought-after and imaginative progressive metal which highlights numerous breaks in intensity and rhythm, juxtaposing very refined parts with others bursting with power. and energy and this even within a composition. On the menu, 13 tracks for 72 minutes of listening and, even if the global pandemic has forced them to record their respective part remotely, this new baby is incredibly rich.
From the first listen, we feel that the album is divided into two types of compositions with first of all quite direct titles with verse/chorus constructions but also others much more progressive in approach, both keeping the touch "made in 'Fates Warning'". 'The Destination Onward' which begins the album is classified in the second type with a composition belonging to the three longest and takes us into this juxtaposition of contrasting sections, with, first of all, an atmospheric first part that leaves room to a rhythm acceleration highlighting all the power of raging guitar riffs and a remarkable first performance of 'Ray Alder' always at the top in these energetic atmospheres In the same style, we can cite the other two long developments, 'The Way Home' which offers us, first of all, a refined ballad gradually increasing in intensity to explode in an energetic mid-tempo and 'The Longest Shadow of the Day' which is cut into several parts and wich takes us through all kinds of atmospheres by juxtaposing breaks of intensity bringing extreme strength to the whole. Regarding the other titles, shorter and much more direct, they are also separated into two categories, first of all powerful compositions with for example 'Shuttered World' and its heady chorus or 'Scars' with its heavy rhythm o r Begin Again' and its addictive tempo to make a whole audience headbang or even 'Liar' and 'Glass Houses', more classic but immediately assimilable, then, other much calmer compositions like the mid-tempo 'Now Comes The Rain' much more rock than metal, and the magnificent ballads 'Under the Sun' with its melodic lines that immediately touch you or 'When Snow Falls' or even 'The Last Song' placed in last position to recover from our emotions after the long development 'The Longest Shadow Of The Day'.
In summary, with this last album, 'Fates Warning' shows all the palette of which they are capable, whether in a sought-after progressive metal which requires to linger there but also in a more direct metal which wants to be much more accessible which destines 'Long Day Good Night' to an audience loving a varied metal with contrasting atmospheres which is the hallmark of this band... | |
