Ruins of Alph
Ruins of Alph, another band from the USA got in touch about their prog style music. This one was interesting to review as there’s no lyrics or vocals on the tracks posted on their FB page, just the instruments. I’ve sat down and had a listen to see what I thought!
Opening with guitars, rolling drums and layers of synth, Rosa immediately grabs you and makes you realise how well these guys can play their instruments, there’s some serious stuff going on here. The guitars rove up and down the neck, the drums roll around in the back ground and the synths add a strange and mysterious depth to the track – Progressive here we come! There’s no vocals here, and whether that was a deliberate choice or not, it seems to work without them.
I Am Not A Nugget follows with a much more evident bass line to the track, again opting for the strange time signatures and rolling drums of the previous track. This track is another piece of progressive mastery, with varying guitar lines, drums which change beat from the syncopated to the straight forward, the guitarist in me was screaming and amazed both at the same time.
The Unknown starts of much more frantically with a heavier sound from the off, whether this is down the mix I’m not sure, it just sounds more raw and aggressive. As the drumming reaches epic speeds, I sat thinking to myself, there still aren’t any vocals on any songs, yet strangely they’ve not been missed! This is a theme which continues in the next track, Innocence. The song starts with some Spanish style guitar but soon builds up into a faster metal based ditty, featuring some guitar lines which could be taken straight from the practice books of Mr Petrucci himself.
Final track, Something to do With Clouds carries on the theme of strange guitar lines right to the end of this selection, with drums rolling all over the place and some pretty awesome guitar lines once again, this track is a good way to finish – on a high!
Now, I love Dream Theater, and when I say love, I mean have an obsession which sometimes borders on the unhealthy! As such, for me to draw comparison between any band and the mighty DT is unheard of and never properly going to happen, but these guys come close. If you like DT stuff like Erotomania and similar then you’ll like this. There are no vocals but at the same time, the guitar lines make up for that.
One point of criticism, turn down the drums in the mix from time to time, the cymbals get a bit over bearing sometimes and can push everything else out of the way. Try some vocalists as well, it would have to be the right one, but if these guys find the right one then they’re sure to be heard of again.
To find out more about Ruins of Alph, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Opening with guitars, rolling drums and layers of synth, Rosa immediately grabs you and makes you realise how well these guys can play their instruments, there’s some serious stuff going on here. The guitars rove up and down the neck, the drums roll around in the back ground and the synths add a strange and mysterious depth to the track – Progressive here we come! There’s no vocals here, and whether that was a deliberate choice or not, it seems to work without them.
I Am Not A Nugget follows with a much more evident bass line to the track, again opting for the strange time signatures and rolling drums of the previous track. This track is another piece of progressive mastery, with varying guitar lines, drums which change beat from the syncopated to the straight forward, the guitarist in me was screaming and amazed both at the same time.
The Unknown starts of much more frantically with a heavier sound from the off, whether this is down the mix I’m not sure, it just sounds more raw and aggressive. As the drumming reaches epic speeds, I sat thinking to myself, there still aren’t any vocals on any songs, yet strangely they’ve not been missed! This is a theme which continues in the next track, Innocence. The song starts with some Spanish style guitar but soon builds up into a faster metal based ditty, featuring some guitar lines which could be taken straight from the practice books of Mr Petrucci himself.
Final track, Something to do With Clouds carries on the theme of strange guitar lines right to the end of this selection, with drums rolling all over the place and some pretty awesome guitar lines once again, this track is a good way to finish – on a high!
Now, I love Dream Theater, and when I say love, I mean have an obsession which sometimes borders on the unhealthy! As such, for me to draw comparison between any band and the mighty DT is unheard of and never properly going to happen, but these guys come close. If you like DT stuff like Erotomania and similar then you’ll like this. There are no vocals but at the same time, the guitar lines make up for that.
One point of criticism, turn down the drums in the mix from time to time, the cymbals get a bit over bearing sometimes and can push everything else out of the way. Try some vocalists as well, it would have to be the right one, but if these guys find the right one then they’re sure to be heard of again.
To find out more about Ruins of Alph, check out their Facebook page HERE.