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Review:
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This is the third release from Portugal’s Forgotten
Suns, a follow-up to 2004’s Snooze and my, what a difference
five years can make. The band having started out with five
members went down to four and is now back up to five, all-be-it
with a couple new players. The core of the band continues
to revolve around Ricardo Falcao (guitar, vocals) and Miguel
Valadares (keyboards). Filling out the band are J.C. Samora
(drums), Nuno Correia (bass) and Nio (vocals). As you might
expect with any change in personnel there is always the
likelihood of a change of musical sound or direction and
in the case of Forgotten Suns that’s certainly the case.
The new disc Innergy consists of eight tracks, most
of which tend to be on the longish side. In fact three of
them are over the ten-minute mark. The first thing fans
of the band’s previous work will notice is that Innergy
is a much harder rocking album. In fact if all you were
to go by was the band’s photo on the back of the CD, you’d
probably guess they were a prog-metal band, and you know
what, you would be right. These eight compositions fairly
bristle with hard edged guitar, powerful double-kick drumming
and pounding bass. The keyboards are still present, but
they’re clearly overshadowed by the crunchy guitar and driving
rhythm. Now that said, there are still quite a few musical
change-ups in the music, but whereas before we might be
treated to something more symphonic that’s no longer the
case. Forgotten Suns have taken a more direct approach.
Whenever a softer interlude does come about its pretty much
always followed by something quite aggressive. What this
has a tendency to do is make the music sound less dynamic
in that while there are softer parts, most everything else
operates at the same loud volume. That’s not necessarily
bad, because it creates a tremendous amount of energy, but
it does tend to make it hard to distinguish one track from
the next.
There’s no question the sound of Forgotten Suns has
gone through quite a metamorphosis. Some fans of the band
may in fact be a bit disappointed. The musicianship is still
first rate. Innergy after all is their third CD release.
The challenge for the band should they choose to continue
to ply the prog-metal waters is to develop a style that
differentiates them from so many of the others already in
the genre. Still, it should be clearly stated that if you
like your prog on the harder side, Innergy from Forgotten
Suns will certainly satisfy that craving.
www.jerrylucky.com
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