Phases

If you follow Mike Portnoy on any social media, you know he’s hyped about this album, even going as far as to compare it in some aspects to the eternal classic that is “Images & Words”. After all, his son, Max, plays drums in it.

Now, while I agree that it is a huge musical growth for Max and co., indeed comparable to that of Dream Theater between their first two albums, I doubt it will be a classic of this day and age. Mainly because it’s not that groundbreaking (except for a few tracks like the amazing ‘The Wanderer’ and the beautifully composed ‘Denial’) and the production. Now, it’s not as unlistenable as, say, Metallica’s “Death Magnetic”, but it certainly doesn’t make me go back to it more often (see the first heavy part of ‘The Wanderer’ how the bass drowns everything else during the first bar or so).

That does not mean that this is a bad album, or average, for that matter. They are surpassing many of their peers at such a young age, their greatest attribute having an original sound and not being generic and bland like a lot of modern prog bands. After the seemingly mandatory intro we have ‘Answer Me’, which opens up with a riff that definitely is very reminiscent of Dream Theater, especially when the piano comes in, but it still has that Next to None twist that is present throughout the album. Then the vocals kick in and the song turns into a beast of its own. ‘The Apple’, on the other hand, is a bad song. It feels as if they just wrote it to appeal hardcore fans and only remembered themselves in the chorus, which is the only good part on it.

‘Alone’ has some great vocals courtesy of Thomas Cuce and it is in this song that guitarist Derrick Schneider shows properly for the first time his soloing capabilities. ‘Kek’ starts off with a tasty guitar lead giving way to a heavy riff and then comes a keyboard/guitar solo trade-off. The second half of the song is the icing on the cake for me, being as melodic as before but a bit mellower and more epic. And to finish things off we have the 19-minute epic ‘The Wanderer’. Production issues aside, this might very well be the best song released this year (that I have listened to). It is one big conglomeration of several genres including metal (obviously), jazz, dubstep, surf rock, and many more. The first six or so minutes are some the most diverse and interesting moments on the album, full of great solos and riffs. Once you reach the end, you wonder where those 19 minutes went and reflect upon the adventure you just had.

‘”Phases”, for having one or two songs that don’t really add anything and its production issues, is a highly enjoyable album that every fan of the genre should give a try, if only to listen Max Portnoy’s ridiculous abilities behind the kit and Derrick Schneider’s amazing solos. I can’t wait to see (listen) how Next to None will evolve in the future.

Originally written for https://metalmanreviews.wordpress.com/