ARCH / MATHEOS — Sympathetic Resonance (review)

ARCH / MATHEOS — Sympathetic Resonance album cover

Album · 2011 · Progressive Metal

4.5/5 · 2011-10-18
adg211288

Sympathetic Resonance is the debut studio album from progressive metal act Arch/Matheos. The band is essentially a getting together of Fates Warning’s guitarist Jim Matheos and former Fates Warning vocalist John Arch, and also features guitarist Frank Aresti, bassist Joey Vera and drummer Bobby Jarzombek, all of whom feature in the current Fates Warning line-up as of the release of Sympathetic Resonance, which means it’s only Arch’s Fates Warning replacement Ray Alder who is not present on Sympathetic Resonance out of the current Fates Warning lineup. I guess in a way this album could be seen as a Fates Warning for 2011 if John Arch had never left.

There are only six tracks on Sympathetic Resonance, so long track times are to be expected. All are over five minutes and half of them pass the ten minute mark, so epic progressive compositions are generally the flavour of the day here. The musicianship is of a high quality all the way, and I’d expect nothing less from a group made up of such seasoned musicians such as this. This is classic progressive metal with a nice focus on the fact that it is heavy metal, you won’t find any symphonic keyboard layers in this music, which is something that is becoming quite common in modern progressive metal albums. I expect the style will not only appeal to the prog crowd but also to traditional and power metal fans.

Vocal wise John Arch puts on a great performance, but I must say I think his vocals will be a required taste (in much the same way Dream Theater’s James LaBrie is), will may alienate some listeners from fully enjoying Sympathetic Resonance. To be honest his tone is not exactly my cup of tea so the album took a lot of listens to really click with me, but I can definitely appreciate Arch’s vocals all the same, although I do still sometimes find myself thinking that, did this album have a different singer, I’d enjoy it a whole lot more, as blasphemous as that statement probably is.

Of course, if that were the case it wouldn’t be Arch/Matheos would it? And of course this is the thing for people who find John Arch’s vocals more to their taste; John Arch hasn’t exactly been active musically since his Fates Warning exit. There was an EP in 2003, but Sympathetic Resonance is the first full-length album Arch has graced since Fates Warning’s Awaken the Guardian in 1986. I can certainly understand the hype surrounding Sympathetic Resonance because of this, and in line with the previous paragraph about the music, if Arch’s style of singing appeals to you then you’ll find Sympathetic Resonance a very rewarding listen. It’s nice to get a high quality progressive metal album that still favours the guitars over a keyboard.

However although a really great album from a collaboration that there is much cause to celebrate that’s all Sympathetic Resonance ultimately is – great but not quite a masterpiece (though it does just about creep into my ‘very exceptional’ scoring range). I feel that it’s the longer songs that really deliver the goods in the most spectacular fashion, those being Neurotically Wired, Stained Glass Sky and Any Given Day (Strangers Like Me). Stained Glass Sky, the longest track, is easily the gem of the album, although Any Given Day gives it a good run for its money. Of the shorter tracks (defining shorter as under ten minutes) Midnight Serenade is the one that I feel is the strongest while if the album has a weak point it’s the eight minute On The Fence, while still pretty good did seem to drag a little for me despite the fact that there are longer songs on the album that the band doesn’t waste a second in.

Sympathetic Resonance is a great release from Arch/Matheos, but it’s probably very true that there is one particular crowd this is going to please first and foremost and that’s Fates Warning’s fanbase. Having never really got into that band I haven’t been caught up in the hype for this album, although after the ultimately positive experience that Sympathetic Resonance is I may have to see about changing that. For the existing Fate’s Warning fan this could very easily be your album of the year but for the rest of us, well, there have been better prog metal albums this year, although bringing us back around to the fact that this is a guitar driven album, I do note the general lack of such prog metal releases once again (in fact looking through the albums I’ve reviewed so from 2011 this may be the only one!) so if the idea of a prog metal album that doesn’t rely on the keyboards appeals to you, then Arch/Matheos’ debut is an album you need to be investigating.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 8.5/10, "Very Exceptional Album")

more than 2 years ago
Permalink
Report #253184

Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer

Please login to post a shout

J-Man wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I love keyboard-driven prog metal (after all, Dream Theater is one of my favorite bands), but this guitar-driven sound was an refreshing change of pace from the standard prog metal mold IMO. This is one of my favorites this year - great review of a great album!

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

"so if the idea of a prog metal album that doesn’t rely on the keyboards appeals to you, then Arch/Matheos’ debut is an album you need to be investigating."

Yep that´s exactly why it appeals to me. I tend to find keyboard driven metal too polished for my taste (there are of course exceptions) so this is just what the doctor ordered :-)