Pathosray
Laser’s Edge
http://www.lasersedgegroup.com/
Rating: A
Progressive Metal has
always been a thriving musical genre with a plethora of new
exciting bands coming up through the ranks. The Italian band
Pathosray, who have just issued their self titled debut
release, are the latest outfit to take aim at the Prog Metal
summit. This impressive, incredibly mature sounding disc is
focused around well crafted and perfectly executed songs,
plain and simple. Each one of the five members performs
equally at such a high a technical level that it’s downright
scary. While the majority of these nine compositions
certainly offer up plenty of beefy and aggressive guitar
riffs, the solos are surprisingly kept to a minimum here,
with more emphasis placed on Gianpaolo Rinaldi’s adventurous
keyboard work. Vocalist Marco Sandron’s range is stunning
and his soaring vocals on songs like “Scent of Snow”,
“Sorrow Never Dies” and “Faded Crystals” places him
alongside some of the best the genre has to offer, namely
James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Russell Allen (Symphony X) and
Chris Salinas (Zero Hour). In the end the music on this
album will leave listeners astonished and scratching their
heads in amazement at how these five young men from Italy could have
pulled off such a feat. If you’re a fan of this style of
music then I’d certainly consider this to be an essential
purchase.
-Ryan
Sparks