Inside Out
2010
1. Intro
2. Ripples
3. Do I Dare?
4. Remorse
5. Between Black & White
6. Catatonic Coma
7. Torn Apart
8. Traces Inside
9. Reflections
10. The Purpose
Ripples is the first album by Norwegian progressive metallers Aspera and one I randomly decided to check out after listening to a couple tracks on their myspace. I'm not a huge progressive metal fan and it's not my top genre, but what they had sounded pretty good.
Ironically, I do find progressive metal to be one of the most stagnant of metal genres and this is fairly familiar in sound with it's spacey keyboards, etc, but I do find myself enjoying this album anyways. At the end of the day it boils down to songs and I believe these guys are pretty good songwriters. What boosts this album for me is simply put a good sense of melody as the music does focus more on atmosphere and flowing passages. There are enough heavier riffs to remind you this is a metal album, but it definitely strays toward the lighter end. Vocally, I hear a bit of Jorn Lande and maybe Jonny Lindqvist of Nocturnal Rites in his more melodic/aor-ish moments. What Ripples reminds me of is a softer take on some of their noted influences like Pagan's Mind and Symphony X. Aspera generally doesn't have as much edge as these bands, but Ripples does kind of feel like the lighter parts of those bands strung together into a flowing piece of atmospheric music. Not such a bad thing and I can see this being a good 'laid back mood' sort of album.
The short of this one would be if you like progressive metal on the melodic side then this might be worth checking out. For a debut, it's pretty well put together with a pleasing sound to the ear. Probably not anything revolutionary, but worth seeking for fans of lighter prog and melodic/aor metal.
Highlights: Ripples, Do I Dare?, Catatonic Coma
Rating - 3.5/5
2. Ripples
3. Do I Dare?
4. Remorse
5. Between Black & White
6. Catatonic Coma
7. Torn Apart
8. Traces Inside
9. Reflections
10. The Purpose
Ripples is the first album by Norwegian progressive metallers Aspera and one I randomly decided to check out after listening to a couple tracks on their myspace. I'm not a huge progressive metal fan and it's not my top genre, but what they had sounded pretty good.
Ironically, I do find progressive metal to be one of the most stagnant of metal genres and this is fairly familiar in sound with it's spacey keyboards, etc, but I do find myself enjoying this album anyways. At the end of the day it boils down to songs and I believe these guys are pretty good songwriters. What boosts this album for me is simply put a good sense of melody as the music does focus more on atmosphere and flowing passages. There are enough heavier riffs to remind you this is a metal album, but it definitely strays toward the lighter end. Vocally, I hear a bit of Jorn Lande and maybe Jonny Lindqvist of Nocturnal Rites in his more melodic/aor-ish moments. What Ripples reminds me of is a softer take on some of their noted influences like Pagan's Mind and Symphony X. Aspera generally doesn't have as much edge as these bands, but Ripples does kind of feel like the lighter parts of those bands strung together into a flowing piece of atmospheric music. Not such a bad thing and I can see this being a good 'laid back mood' sort of album.
The short of this one would be if you like progressive metal on the melodic side then this might be worth checking out. For a debut, it's pretty well put together with a pleasing sound to the ear. Probably not anything revolutionary, but worth seeking for fans of lighter prog and melodic/aor metal.
Highlights: Ripples, Do I Dare?, Catatonic Coma
Rating - 3.5/5
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