'Final Gravity' is an American formation that I discovered with their album 'Surviving Humanity' released at the end of January 2021 but which already has more than ten years of existence with a first eponymous album of the group dating from 2009 here and an EP '4 Pack' dating from 2010 which saw the integration of the singer 'Melissa Jane Dichiera' to complete the line-up of the four founding members. Their style mixes rock and progressive metal with dense compositions that you discover little by little, listen after listen.
'New Day' opens the album in an smooth atmosphere which makes us discover 'Melissa Jane Dichiera' who has a strong vocal identity that she masters perfectly and in which the alternations between vocal parts and instrumentals are very well dosed which allows 'Michael Clark' to offer us a remarkable guitar solo, then, 'Sincerely Satan' changes of style by hardening the tone in a more direct rock style with a first half which gradually takes power, Melissa having this facility to modulate her voice according to the intensity. With 'Hollow Days', after a calm first part which slowly rises in power, saturated guitar riffs introduce a much more energetic second part leaving room without transition for a break to return to the starting theme in a much quieter atmosphere, then, 'Hello, Hello (Bleeding Sadness)', well placed in the middle of the album is a ballad with a magnificent heady melody. The second part of the album continues with the upbeat 'Leaving' which has a swaying rhythm close to 'Led Zeppelin' and an admirable instrumental section in the second part of the title, then, it is again a change of mood with 'No Love', quite contrasted, between a first part in which we let ourselves be lulled by the delicate voice of Melissa and a second part which, after a rhythm section with early 'Floyds' sounds reminiscent of 'Ummagumma' sequences, hardens the tone with a radical change of singing that becomes much more energetic. As for the last two tracks, 'My Eternity' and 'Poenix', the mix of direct rock and much more progressive parts made up of rhythmic alternations and intensity clearly illustrate all the peculiarity and originality of this formation.
In summary, this new album from the Americans of 'Final Gravity' shows how far they have come since their debut and offers compositions that take on their full dimension after several listenings which destines 'Surviving Humanity' to an audience loving a modern progressive music navigating between rock and metal... | |
