Rocking – Polysyllabic Review
Mediterranean heavy/power temperament and proto-prog perception in an interesting local release.
A few months ago we were talking about Athenian (Greece) band ILLUSORY and their sophomore album and – with a minor delay – the time has come to elaborate on their newest work. The band has been active since the 90’s (under the name Ivory Tower), the name change was made in 2012 and it brought a breeze of renewal for the band; their debut album, “The Ivory Tower”, was actually a re-recording of their promo and it was full of promises for the future. Moving forward, the Greek heavy/power metallers present a total of thirteen songs, with their aura reminiscing the things that this specific sound was advocating in the 90’s. It’s overwhelmed with feelings and the structure, although consistent with their classic metal character, is flirting with protegenous Prog and their influences amalgam, from Iron Maiden to Savatage, to Jag Panzer and ancient Queensryche, drowning all eyes towards them. Naturealy, the first band that came to mind, listening to that material, was InnerWish of the “Silent Faces” period, due to their overall album sound and their composing structures and the Mediterranean air the album is breathing out. My aspect was strengthened by the guest appearance of George Eikosipentakis, InnerWish current singer, on “Polysyllabic”, amongst other (many) guests. Thus, intense melodies are in front, guitar work is by far not superfluous and the sound familiarity is winning on every experienced listener in the genre. Along with the participation of the vocal orchestra of Voice Box, which broadens the horizons of the album material, I think that we are dealing with their most complete work so far, either as The IVORY TOWER or ILLUSORY, with songs like “Odd-Y-Sea”, “System’s Decay” and ten-minute epic “Swan Song” standing out. Nevertheless, apart from the fact that we are facing a very remarkable work, some elements could be more improved. First things first, the album production is lacking volume and relevant dynamics, without being a poor one, not by any means. Since we are talking about terms and demands in 2017 and not the 90’s any more and stretching it all, I think that a bit more volume could better underline the riffing compositions of the band. In total, ILLUSORY’s newest proposal is not going to disappoint all those friends of good heavy/power, showing – for one more time – that this specific side of local music scene can steadily offer high level releases.
