SHADOW GALLERY — Legacy (review)

Album · 2001 · Progressive Metal

3.5/5 · 2021-08-06
lukretion

Crushed between two giants like Tyranny and Room V, Legacy is the oft-overlooked fourth album by US prog metallers Shadow Gallery. It is a shame, because it is a very solid release, containing a couple of killer tracks (“Cliffhanger 2”, “Colors”) and tons of very good progressive rock/metal music.

On Legacy, Shadow Gallery come across as a band in full control of their sound and who, having earned their stripes in the prog metal arena, are willing to stretch towards more audience-friendly and accessible solutions than what one can usually find on a progressive metal album. The six songs of Legacy may therefore not be the most structurally or technically complex prog metal tracks out there, but they should nevertheless be greatly enjoyable for anyone with an interest in progressive rock or metal. A remarkable aspect of the band’s sound is in fact that it sits almost perfectly in the middle between the prog rock of the 1970s and the metal of the 1980s, with strong hints of bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis, US prog rockers Kansas, and Queensrÿche. This mixture reminds me of a considerably heavier and, at places, darker a version of another iconic US prog rock/metal band, Spock’s Beard.

Whether you are on the heavier or softer side of prog, you will surely find a lot to like in this album. The playing is simply sublime, but not in a show-offy way, which is probably one of the most remarkable characteristics of the band. Shadow Gallery can play as no other (listen to the astonishing instrumental interlude in the middle of “Cliffhanger 2”, which just leaves me amazed every time I play the album), but they keep their instrumental prowess strictly to the service of the songs – a rare quality in progressive circles. The arrangements are layered and rich, but not overly complex, giving the music a classy, sophisticated feel as in the best prog rock tradition. There is a lot of colour in the music as well, with electric and acoustic guitars, flutes, violins, violas and a great deal of piano and keyboard interjections sprinkled all over the album. Structurally, with the exception of the mammothian “First Light” – a multi-part beast that clocks at 34+ minutes, the songs are not too intricate and are instead tightly focused around catchy, melodic choruses that are perfectly designed to grab the listener’s attention from the very first listen. However, despite the strong focus on melody and accessibility, Legacy can also rock and features some great, powerful riffs that one can easily headbang to (“Cliffhanger 2”, “Legacy”, “First Light”).

The whole album is very pleasant to listen to and never slips into boredom, also thanks to a wise alternation between softer, mellower songs (the ballad “Colors”, the 70s-infused “Society of the Mind”) and more robust and uptempo numbers like “Cliffhanger 2” and “Legacy”. The quality of the tracks is generally high, but “Cliffhanger 2” and “Colors” are perhaps the most inspired episodes of the album, containing respectively some of the best playing and best vocal melodies of the record. On the other hand, the 34-minute long “First Light” is probably the weakest track. This is the obligatory “prog epic”, which any ambitious progressive rock/metal band attempts to write (typically once per album) in their career. However, relative to the best “prog epics” out there, “First Light” lacks flow and consistency. Some parts are great, some are average and some are even mediocre. Most importantly, the various sections do not really work well together and the overall effect is that of a fragmented, slightly unwieldy long track that just does not compare with the quality of the rest of the material on the album. To make things worse, there are several nonsensical minutes of silence and background noise thrown in towards the end of the song before the track picks up again and concludes. It is really difficult to understand how anyone could have thought that splitting the song this way could possibly be a good idea.

Featuring a generally strong production and mix by Neil Kernon, “Legacy” is a very good album by a band that if often overlooked in the progressive metal arena. It may not be Shadow Gallery’s best release, as one gets the sense that the band could do so much more with their technical and arrangement skills (for instance: write a truly memorable prog epic), but it is certainly a very accessible and enjoyable record. This was the first album I ever heard by Shadow Gallery and it really got me excited about this band, so if you are new to Shadow Gallery this may actually be a suitable point of entry.