Theories Of Flight review – The Musical Melting Pot (06/08/2016)

Original link – http://www.themusicalmeltingpot.com/2016/06/08/fates-warning-theories-of-flight-review/
By Leon

Progressive metal is, by definition, all about forward movement, change, and intensity. With Theories Of Flight, Fates Warning – ranked as prog-metal pioneers alongside the likes of Queensrÿche and Dream Theater and standing tall today as twelve-album veterans – are currently sitting on a release based around those same core themes.

Theories Of Flight is as progressive as it gets.

Are otherworldly chops your thing? Check out Theories Of Flight opener From The Rooftops for multiple motor-cortex-melting drum moments courtesy of Fates Warning drummer Bobby Jarzombek, and the freaky guitar soloing to be found on empowering powerhouse White Flag. What about extra-long epics? Fates Warning have two to hand this time out in The Light And Shade Of Things and album highlight The Ghosts Of Home. Virtuosic vocal performances? Worry not: Ray Alder has you covered for Theories Of Flight’s fifty-three-minute duration.

Ultimately, Theories Of Flight is a deeply personal album with two major emotional highlights. White Flag is a five-minute tour de force, a blizzard of massive chords, searing leads, churning riffs, and backbreaking grooves that underpin Ray Alder simultaneously talking straight and singing theatrically. Two tracks later, The Ghosts Of Home proves this album’s winner as guitarist/producer/lyricist Jim Matheos digs deep into his past, mulling over the psychological repercussions of repeated childhood uprootings and emerging with a song you just need to hear for yourself, because saying anything more would spoil an experience Fates Warning fans are going to treasure for some time to come.

Listening to Theories Of Flight is like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle without knowing what the final picture is supposed to look like. With the benefit of hindsight, it proves worth every second. Come July 1, those who’ve stuck by Fates Warning will find their support supported in kind by a world-class album from a band of legends.

TMMP RATING: 93% (Essential Listening!)

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