LEE Z - SHADOWLAND - 2005

At first glance by looking at the band's photo, I kind of think, who is this Good Charlotte?, but thankfully it isn't. It's kind of hard to say where this band stands in the world of progressive metal, they kind of lean towards a milder take, leaning almost into modern day rock territories (the vocals are a little textured towards that direction, milder sounding than most metal bands), but yet they seem like they could really place an example for technically driven rock on today's rock radio.

The melodies and consistency of the music are unto a more grittier approach to a musical stance, yes, there are hints of Mid-Period Fates Warning and Late-Period Sabbath, but yet these guys take on a loom that really emphasizes the songs rather than going all over the place with jam sessions and solos, where the staccato riffs and key changes are encompassed with the song and the keyboards add more to the often dark atmosphere that Lee Z provides on Shadowland.

The music itself find proportionate fodder within often dark and mood driven titles approximating the hard edged cuts such as "Save Me," "Troublemaker," and "Sweet Surrender" as well as more eased back tracks like the gloomy ballads "Cold Days" and "Nights in Dover" which easily puncture the grinding riffage.

But rounding things out, their music has that commercial temptation to it (at least as far as the production is concerned) at times with the occasional drum loop, etc, but this is by no means Clear Channel/MTV garbage, then again, maybe this can bridge the gap for more real metal in the mainstream, we definitely need it. Lee Z are quite good songwriters and it sounds as if the quest for continuing the metal stature is in place, so hopefully it will stay that way for all their next releases to come.

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