Andromeda
The Immunity Zone

In 2008, Andromeda released their new album, "The Immunity Zone". I wasn't too enthusiastic because I feared that the Swedish progressive metal band, like other bands, would commercialize. However, from the very first listen, I noticed many similarities to "II=I" and a departure from "Chimera"; I took this very well, provided that the next album would be more or less like "Extension Of The Wish" or like "Chimera" itself.

The introduction of the first song of the album, "Recognizing Fate", is Megadeth style, featuring the darker parts of "II=I", thanks to the keyboards paired with heavy guitar distortions. Halfway through the song, the rhythm slows down with sweeter arpeggios and keyboards, and the drums become very noticeable. The conclusion is entrusted to the keyboard. "Slaves of the Plethora Season" starts immediately with guitars, keyboard, and drums, then gives way to a rather aggressive voice. "Ghosts on Retinas" is a sweeter track compared to the previous ones, with comforting arpeggios but with very dark keyboards. So far, there are no instrumental parts, but with "Censoring Truth" Andromeda makes up for it: an introduction with aggressive guitars, Dream Theater-style keyboard. We then discover that it is a varied track, with many changes in rhythm and music. After 4:30, there are guitar (not well executed) and keyboard (lengthy and excellent) solos, followed by a rather calm moment succeeded by the hardest part of the song, the final part. "Worst Enemy" begins with a slow and dreamy rhythm, but then it turns out to be a dynamic song; the chorus is really original. Afterward, a small instrumental part begins, well executed. The third part of the song is the most beautiful: the group manages to mix a soft voice with hard guitar and drums. After the two previous tracks that bring the band back to the instrumental canons of prog-metal, “My Star” is a song that goes beyond these canons, which has good elements of heaviness, but stands out for its anomaly: a sort of claustrophobic chant with a singer-songwriter structure, with a slowed-down pace, interpreted by Fremberg with his typical “suffering” approach, with vague dissonances and effective virtuosic moments of keyboard and Reinholdz's guitar.

"Another Step" is perhaps the hardest song of the album, with guitar distortions and the keyboard limited only to accompaniment. But then the keyboard-guitar challenge begins: the guitarist wins, concluding perfectly, but the keyboard still holds its own. “Shadow of a Lucent Moon” is an appetizer to the masterpiece that will follow, a semi-ballad with Fates Warning influences and can be divided into two parts: arpeggiated and rarefied the first, harsh and lively the second, where the technique of the rhythm section is best exploited and those keyboard notes are repeated which have been and will be the group's trademark (from which many recent bands have drawn inspiration). The masterpiece "Veil of Illumination", lasting 17 minutes, starts strong right away: dynamic riffs, continuous tempo changes, and promotes beautiful neo-prog melodies; in short, a suite that presents all the prog influences. There are successful Dream Theater-style instrumental parts, and on all instruments, the usual guitar and keyboard dominate, mixing in the usual duet-challenges. Then the beautiful guitar solo removes all doubt that they are too technical or too cold (depending on our perspective).

In short, this CD is definitely worth buying, but it is certainly not a great masterpiece. Andromeda have reconfirmed themselves with this album, and they have done very well. I just hope that the group's next album, as I have already said, is far from the sound of this one - not because I dislike it, in fact only "II=I" surpasses it -, but because I would like to hear a sweeter sound, or at least I hope that the group does not commercialize (and this is the most important thing).