Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian/No Exit
In the Dream Theater newsgroup and mailing list Fates Warning are constantly mentioned and recommended. The result was my purchase this double CD.
Awaken The Guardian
This could be described as progressive metal due to the length of the songs. It certainly couldn't be described as progressive because of the music. The album could be summed up as Iron Maiden playing longer songs. I didn't think it was possible, but the singer indulges in more high pitched screaming than Bruce Dickinson.
No Exit
Two years later on. Either they have changed the singer or somebody's been having lessons. The high pitch vocals are still in evidence, but aren't quite so annoying. The first five songs are quite short. This leaves room for the 21:25 min epic 'The Ivory Gate Of Dreams'. This is the song most people want to compare Dream Theater's 'A Change Of Season' to and therefore the main reason I bought the album. The CD sensibly assigns different track numbers to each section of the song. It has all the expected loud and quiet, fast and slow sections. In my opinion it's not in the same league as 'A Change Of Season', but it is the only part of these albums that I listen to now.
My advice to any other Dream Theater fans would to be extremely careful before purchasing any Fates Warning material. AOR/Melodic Rock fans are unlikely to find it to their tastes. However, if you're more into traditional HM or Thrash then it might just be what you've always been looking for.
Rating : 3
