Shade in the Light

Progressive metal artists can be divided, at least in the most general of senses, into two distinct groups. The first being those that write songs, the second being those that create compositions. Though in the aftermath of Dream Theater’s rise to prominence with “Images In Words” there was a strong move towards compositions that did more to display the technical ability of the artists or the ingenuity of a composer looking to merge a plethora of differing styles and sounds together, often losing the charm of said album’s catchy elements, in the past few years the opposite trend has been more prevalent. Part of this is due to the advent of power progressive metal from the likes of Pagan’s Mind and Communic, but many bands still following a strictly Dream Theater/Fates Warning (post-1988) approach have also shortened their songs and put a stronger emphasis on memorable hooks.

Persona Non Grata fit into this general trend perfectly, avoiding some of the tediousness that can come with those who insist on breaking the 10 minute mark on half or even all of their songs. There is a great sense of restraint involved here, save perhaps in the dramatic performance of vocalist Bill Axiotis, who comes off as a pretty solid blend of Ray Adler’s high end vocalizations and Tom Englund’s rougher semi-growl approach. The songs tend to hang around the 5-6 minute mark, the keyboards are not overly prominent, and the lead guitar work is fairly subtle in comparison to most of the technicians dominating the scene. There are still naturally obligatory references to odd time signatures, riffs that seem to continually develop throughout a song‘s duration, and ballad sections that jump in fairly abruptly, but all within the scope of something that is fairly accessible.

Probably the biggest trap that bands of this persuasion tend to fall into is sounding more rock and jazz influenced than they do Metal influenced, and this Greek outfit definitely has its fair share of light sounding jazz piano sections and easier going rock elements. But when you hear heavy stews of hard edged riffing and synthesizer ambiences that dominate songs such as “Shade In The Light” and “Before The Reason”, the metal side of this album is fixed firmly in its place. It ends up listening like a slightly heavier version of “Perfect Symmetry” with a lead guitar and keyboard approach that fits into mid-90s Dream Theater, essentially combining the two strongest, yet also the two most widely imitated eras of both bands.

This is not the most groundbreaking or original release to come out of the progressive scene of late, but it does well in the quality department and avoids getting extremely long-winded. It will probably carry a little more appeal to metal fans outside of the progressive metal field because it relies on fairly well known and familiar sounds while avoiding the extended technical gymnastics that often come at the expense of the song. It’s far from the standard verse/chorus approach that you get out of mainstream music, and it still carries the general sense of eclecticism common to all in the genre. It’s a good release in spite of a fairly crowded field of competitors and has the potential to get better if the band takes further steps out of the 90s Dream Theater box.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on March 29, 2009.