EQUAL VECTOR - ASPECTATIONS - 2009

Equal Vector come from Athens and this is their first studio albume, the "Aspectations". The genre is progressive power metal and their influences are quite respectable. Fates Warning, Dream Theater, Conception (finally !!!!), Rush, King Crimson (a progressive rock band of 1969). Although the album consists of only eight tracks the album is so strong and powerfull that you will forget the tracks number. Let’s start the review. Gentlement...start your engines!
Starting from the cover for once more, it is a wonderful cover to see and immediately someone understands that this is a progressive album. The cover’s feeling betrays the music genre. While it a minimal picture, it was enough, for me at least, to grab my attention and make me to listen to the cd. Also, the booklet is very nice aesthetically. It is painted in similar colors to the cover and the pictures that are used as backgrounds for the lyrics pages are great. It is fortunate to see such professional work for Greek bands. The cover was designed by Arza Designs, while the booklet from the Theodore and Mary Pagkousi. Now ...let’s talk about music.
The album begins with the one minute duration prelude, "Equivalence". Electronic sounds from the keys fulfill the melody played by the guitar and brings the listener slowly and steady into the first full song, "Forever". From then on the musical compositions are properly seated in place, they are complex and simple at the same time and have no exaggeration that tire the listener ears. The influences of King Crimson band are obvious in several places adding an acoustic "70’s psychedelic rock flavor" to the ears. The vocals are also clean and perfectly fitted to the songs, the guitar and keyboards are in parallel inextricably tied together, however, each instrument has it’s place in the song, while the solos are as well as they should be as part of the song. I would to make a special reference to the "State of grace" song. It is a beautiful song that goes from the progressive side to the jazz side and returns to prog.
The production and mixing is perfect and the cd sounds wonderfully. Also the songs transitions from the previous track to the next are made with surgically precise. The nice thing is that in this whole process took place in Greece and particularly in Subaerial Studios bye the keyboardist of the band Vangelis Kaκarougas.
Finally, I would like to add that the album was completed within 3 years. The songs prove the quality and size of the band’s effort and we must understand that good music is not a term into contracts that says that every two years there has to be an album released. Furthermore the past 3 reviews I have wrote are Greek prog bands and I want to believe that over the next 5 years must have should have sent a Greek prog band to the Prog Power festival, but even better a Greek festival should be initialized with prog bands only.