AFFECTOR — Harmagedon (review)

Album · 2012 · Progressive Metal

3.5/5 · 2012-10-18
Conor Fynes

'Harmagedon' - Affector (7/10)

Sure, like so many of their contemporaries, these progsters are following in the footsteps of Dream Theater, but does this truly do a disservice to their music? In most cases of the dreaded DT-clone, I'm left feeling like great talent is wasted on emulating the work of others who did it better in the first place. Given that an actual member of Dream Theater offers his musical stylings here, it shouldn't be so much of a surprise that multinational prog metal collective Affector have more than a little in common with the legends. Although we can discount much talk of originality from the start onward, Affector deliver a polished, incredibly performed and tastefully composed hour-plus of traditional progressive metal, and had it not been tarnished by trite lyrical content, I might call it one of my favourite prog metal albums thus far this year.

While this may be Affector's first album, they are by no means newcomers to the prog and metal scene. Here, we have a guitarist from Divinity, drummer from Spock's Beard frontman Neal Morse's solo material, bassist from Symphony X, and a singer from Spock's Beard and Thought Chamber. Make no mistake; each band member has earned a reputation for good reason. If that weren't enough, "Harmagedon" is rife with guest keyboard solos from some of the most recognizable musicians in prog today- two of Dream Theater's own keyboardists (Derek Sherinian and Jordan Rudess), Neal Morse and Alex Argento. Throwing in an orchestral introduction, you should be getting the impression by now that Affector have gone all out with this record. The production is professional and slick, and there are more time signature changes than you can share a mellotron at.

As for the actual quality of the music, "Harmagedon" starts off in an incredibly impressive fashion, delivering the sort of technical showmanship and complexity we have come to expect from the progressive metal style, paired up with some surprising beauty. Although I'm often wowed by music like this on a cerebral, unfeeling level, Affector manages to make their instrumentation beautiful as well. Daniel Fries' guitar work is excellent, and while Jordan Rudess' keyboard solos here may be few and far between, his signature gives an essence of authenticity to the band's otherwise derivative style. Stylistically, Affector are certainly not busting down any doors and shaking the progressive world, but it's difficult to speak ill of them as a prog metal act when they do it so damned well.

Decidedly less successful than the instrumentation however are the vocals. Although I caught myself thinking throughout the opening instrumental that Affector could have been better with a vocalist, Ted Leonard delivers something of an imbalanced performance on "Harmagedon". He is certainly a skilled vocalist, but the melodies are something of a hit-or-miss arrangement. The vocal harmonies are lush and powerful, but his voice often sounds a little too weak and vulnerable to pass off some of the more 'epic' moments on the album. Perhaps a greater issue at hand however are the lyrics themselves. "Harmagedon" is a concept album dealing with the biblical interpretation of the end of the world- Revelation. While an apocalypse sounds like it could be a very fertile ground for some imaginative lyrics, Affector take it from a purely Christian perspective, and a saccharine one at that. Although I do not personally share or agree with the beliefs of Christianity, I try not to let my religious opinions get in the way. However, it seems the only time Affector stops reminding the listener of its Christian motivations are during the instrumental sections- which, not incoincidentally, happen to be my favourite moments on the album. With lyrics explicitly praising their Lord and denouncing sinners and hedonists, it would be an understatement to say that the message grows tiresome quickly. It's beautiful to me whenever someone gets inspired or excited enough about something to make art about it, but the lyrics' utter lack of subtlety or cleverness leave me pretty disappointed.

"Harmagedon" at times feels like it is trying a little too hard to be a Christian metal album. The truth is, Affector sound their most inspired and alive when they steer clear of any concept, and simply aim for making the sort of mind-bending progressive metal that has kept proggers on their toes for a good couple of decades. It does not expand much past what Dream Theater have already done, but given this band's astounding grasp of the style, it doesn't deter from the excitement of their instrumentation. It's a very good first step as a new project, and it's a shame such otherwise minute issues could affect my enjoyment of the album so much.

more than 2 years ago
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Colt wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I spoke to Geoff soon after the release and said the exact same. The music is excellent the lyrics killed it. I've not played it since.

voila_la_scorie wrote:

more than 2 years ago

A very impressive review. I find that progressive metal bands are always compared to DT just as symphonic prog bands are compared to Yes and neo-prog bands to Genesis. And stoner and sludge metal to Black Sabbath. I guess we need a common currency against which we can rate the value of particular genre of music. It sounds like musically the album is worth listening to, however, I agree with others that really sincere Christian lyrics make me fidget and look around uncomfortably. I don't care for lyrics about Satan either. They are too trite. But at least they can be passed of as theatre. Anyway, again, l loved the review!

J-Man wrote:

more than 2 years ago

For some reason I can deal with cheesy Satanic lyrics too, Kim. :-) I think the difference is in the sincerity of the content - most Satanic bands are doing it to be fun and entertaining, but most Christian metal bands seriously believe this stuff, and unless it's well-written and captivating, I'm not too interested.

Time Signature wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Satan! Sataaaaan! Saaaataaaaaaaan!!!

With that out of the way, yeah, this album is not bad at all. I can also live with religious lyrics, although I do not agree with them, as long as they aren't cheesy. I can forgive cheesy satanic lyrics though. ;-)

J-Man wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I agree almost entirely with this review. Really solid progressive metal with some pretty tiresome lyrics. I can handle Christian lyrics when they're written in a more poetic and abstract fashion, but this comes across as proselytizing and bothersome to me.