FATES WARNING — No Exit (review)

Album · 1988 · Progressive Metal

4/5 · 2016-01-15
UMUR

"No Exit" is the 4th full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Fates Warning. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in March 1988. There´s been one lineup change since "Awaken The Guardian (1986)", as lead vocalist John Arch has been replaced by Ray Alder. "No Exit" is also the last album to feature original drummer Steve Zimmerman.

The change on the lead vocalist spot has a major impact on the band´s sound, which was more or less inevitable considering how distinct sounding and important John Arch was on the first three Fates Warning albums. When the change needed to happen, they couldn´t have found a better replacement than Ray Alder though. He is a significantly different sounding vocalist with a very different sounding voice and delivery to his predecessor, but still manage to fit in with Fates Warning´s music from day one.

It´s not only on the lead vocalist spot, that the band have changed. The atmosphere of the music is now darker and the music is at times pretty hard edged, almost bordering thrash metal rawness. The fantasy lyrical themes of the past are now also toned down considerably in favour of lyrics dealing with more personal emotional issues. "No Exit" is in that respect a landmark release in the band´s discography. It´s also a pretty unique release in their discography because already on their next album ("Perfect Symmetry (1989)"), they made significant changes to their sound again.

"No Exit" features 6 tracks. The opening title track is a short intro and the next 4 tracks are regular length (between 3 and 5 minutes long) tracks. The album closes with the 21:58 minutes long "The Ivory Gate Of Dreams". A multi-suite epic divided into 8 parts, and by far the most progressive oriented track in the band´s discography up until then. While there are reoccuring themes throughout the long track, it´s obvious that the 8 parts weren´t necessarily written to be played in succession, and some of the shifts between sections, are slightly awkward sounding. When that is said, it´s still a brilliant progressive metal track featuring memorable melodies, hard edged heavy/thrashy riffing, epic moments, and beautiful acoustic sections.

The sound production is more professional sounding and more powerful than the sound production on "Awaken The Guardian (1986)", so it´s definitely a step up in that department. There are still some production issues like the distorted guitar tone, which isn´t always that well sounding, and the reverb laden snare drum sound, but those are minor issues, and they don´t mean "No Exit" isn´t overall a well sounding album.

Upon conclusion "No Exit" is another high quality release in Fates Warning´s discography and a shiny example of 80s progressive metal (guitar/vocal driven progressive metal). The traditional heavy metal and thrash metal elements are still very dominant in the band´s sound, but they´ve incorporated more progressive ideas to their music and "No Exit" is generally a very intriguing progressive metal album with a dark atmoshere. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

more than 2 years ago
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voila_la_scorie wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Thanks, UMUR. I've had it put aside in my Amazon cart for nearly two years. I'll be sure to bring it home in the next few months then.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I like this one a lot. Probably one of my faves of the FW disco exactly for the reasons Adam has presented, it has a nice balance of the early FW and the newer

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I revisited this one the other day and enjoyed it a lot. To further on what Jonas has just said about them being very different sounding albums it would definitely depend on what you think you'd like more: the prog metal Fates Warning or the USPM Fates Warning. Personally I prefer the latter, though this album definitely has the most appeal for both sides of the coin out of any of their albums I've heard so far.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I´d probably go for Guardian, just to experience Arch vocals. They are very different sounding albums though, so don´t give up if you don´t enjoy the first one you hear.

voila_la_scorie wrote:

more than 2 years ago

So this one or Guardian? If I only buy one 80's FW album this year, which is better: the third or fourth?

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

It appears so :-)

Colt wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Are you revisiting all my favourites Jonas? :)

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Yeah, the only comparison I've been able to find is to Queensryche. However, that's mainly only because of Alder's vocals reminding me of Geoff Tate.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

It´s pretty original sounding too right? I can´t recall having heard anything quite like it.

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I've listened to this a couple times recently, and I really love this album. The combination of power, thrash, and prog really works well. I really need to check out their other albums. Great review.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Another great review. I'll be revisiting this one soon, then exploring the rest of their discography.