Fates Warning
A Pleasant Shade Of Grey

After a purely heavy metal start in the style of Iron Maiden and a continuation in a clear metal style but with a certain progressive and melodic inflection in the compositions, Fates Warning complete the definitive transition to progressive metal with this album. It was about time! We'll say! Because after the heavy-power beginnings (essentially the first two albums) their sound began to evolve and change in a way that was as slow as it was interesting, which probably left numerous doubts about what direction the band's sound would ultimately take. The band seemed to be unsure whether to continue in a direction still clearly metal but more evolved than the origins (albums like "Perfect Symmetry" or "Parallels", for example) or if they would indeed move towards evidently and clearly progressive sounds... the answer comes in 1997 with the album "A Pleasant Shade Of Grey". Now we got it! Fates Warning are no longer mainly a metal band with a strong progressive inflection, they are a progressive metal band and that's it.

In this album, the characteristics of progressive metal dictated 5 years earlier by Dream Theater in the masterpiece "Images And Words" (which many do not recognize as the first true progressive metal album) are all here. It all stems from Jim Matheos' idea of narrating a gray rainy morning... in doing so, he has drafted a long composition of 51 minutes divided into 12 movements separated into 12 distinct musical files where atmospheric parts alternate, psychedelic sounds, electronic riffs, and complex Dream Theater school virtuosity...

Part 1 (intro) begins very delicately with a guitar arpeggio followed by the background of keyboards played by former Dream Theater’s Kevin Moore, a guest on the entire album after having played, 8 years earlier, in the splendid "A Fates Hands" from the album "Perfect Symmetry". Part 2 is based on good guitar riffs, accompanied by electronic sounds and a mysterious piano while the chorus's liveliness is striking. Then we are welcomed by a very powerful part 3, where a very heavy riff is cleverly accompanied by the slap of new bassist Joey Vera; the atmospheric breaks are also beautiful. In part 4, we really hear FW play like we never have before: the initial melodic arpeggios give way to a complex instrumental part where guitars and keyboards engage in pleasant virtuosity; also very technical is part 5 which, after the more regular riffs of the first minutes, once again plunges into exquisite guitar-keyboard technicalities... in particular, the keyboard is the protagonist of a very well-constructed scale of notes! Part 6, on the other hand, is more symphonic, starting with the bass, followed by guitar arpeggios then giving way to the keyboards that create a very theatrical and evocative background. A beautiful keyboard riff opens part 7, which this time appears more regular, based on the powerful sound of Jim Matheos' guitar, although a sudden guitar-keyboard riff towards the end will certainly throw the listener off guard. In part 8, space is widely opened to Kevin Moore; it starts with the riff that opened the previous track, then after a beginning clearly in prog-metal style that reflects the other tracks, the good Kevin continues, accompanied by the classical guitar, showing all his versatility with music with an almost baroque flavor. Part 9 is instead an exciting ballad led by piano and acoustic guitar. Part 10 is an electronic interlude that picks up the album’s leitmotif, then part 11 is an explosion of virtuosity that seems to really not allow the slightest pause... who knows what pain the band members felt recording this piece! I hope they recovered well at least! The 12th and final part, on the other hand, is an atmospheric song, led by keyboards and with powerful electric guitar riffs accompanying the central part... A perhaps somewhat repetitive and not very theatrical ending... closing a concept requires something more evocative and that gives a greater sense of conclusion, but it’s fine like this.

The album is a masterpiece that Matheos and company had never been able to reach... afterwards, they will produce a certainly good "Disconnected", much more based on electronics, characterized by excellent sounds that do not, however, achieve the compositional complexity of the one just reviewed and an "FWX" a bit underwhelming, perhaps due to the absence of a contribution from Kevin Moore. I don't know when and if FW will return, and if they do, I don't know if they'll ever manage to replicate this work... but if they want to make a great album, they should take this as an example!