Winter Ethereal

Arch Matheos is a project from Jim Matheos and John Arch. This project is now clearly a power progressive metal band. I didn't enjoy that much their first album. There was something missing that this second release possess right at the start. I will explain myself in the rest of the review.

Vermillion Moons was the first track of this record, and what a start of an album that was. It all started with the lead guitar with some background mood guitar sounds with the singer slowly singing over while building quite a paroxysm. This served its purpose quite well since the listener is drawn right at the start of the release in what was probably the best way I have heard yet on any album. Many artists of power metal should take notes here. This song still possessed other great passages all the way trough but I prefer letting you discover them.

What I didn't like with their first album was most of the song were too difficult to follow and were probably too chaotic and experimental for their own good. The elements to make a great album were present but wasn't used properly befitting the talents of the people involved. After all, Matheos is of Fates Warning fame and was able to make songs that were followed easily. In comparison, the first two tracks of this release do possessed transitions, but these transitions were way smoother and natural. The second song was one of the three highlight of the album being more on the rock n roll side while keeping the energy known to the power metal genre.

The great variety of this album was also due to the different drummers. On the more traditional power metal side, we had Bobby Jarzombek on "Wrath of the universe" and on "Straight and narrow" doing a fantastic rhythm job that gave that special power metal vibe in both of these tracks. Meanwhile, Thomas Lang was using a way more unorthodox drum play on "Vermilion Moons", "Pitch Black Prism" and "Solitary Man" and was probably the best drummer on display on the release.

A power metal album will have been quite incomplete without a ballad of some sort. The 5th track completely delivered on this. "Tethered" was all that a power ballad should be and then some. It was oozing with atmosphere and the great singer that is John Arch was able to show all his talent. I was speechless of how good that ballad was. It was probably the best song on here.

There was still some fault on this release, the track "Never in your hands" was as much chaotic as the precedent release average chaos and do seemed overlong and may have needed more work. This was the only downside to an otherwise great release from start to finish that could have come from "Hellowheen" as a follow-up on the not so popular keeper of the seven keys, the legacy. The present release from Arch Matheos was as varied if not even more varied than that third part of this series.

In conclusion, this album was for fans of progressive power metal that happen to like the keeper series from hellowheen and would have wanted that series to continue as this release seemed like a natural evolution.