Wastefall
Self Exile

The impression that at first listening sneaks in, at the second consolidates, and from the third onwards makes you think that there are no other possibilities is this: how charming, the Pain of Salvation, to find this alternative moniker, also very suggestive, Wastefall, and to insert equally picturesque aliases for the band members:

on vocals, guitars, and keyboards: Domenik Papaemmanouil
on guitars: Alex Katsiyiannis
on keyboards: Christos Kyrkilis
on bass: Nick Valentzis
on drums: Kostis Papaleksopoulos

Yes, undoubtedly a cunning trick that could only be conceived by the multifaceted and eclectic mind of Ian Gildenlow: such advanced and experimental progressive metal cannot exist in Santorini or Mykonos. It’s too hot to conceive certain dark and sinister musicalities, to vibrate violence while knowing how to combine it with melodies at times melancholic, at times venomous.

And yet, one has to reconsider: yes, the Wastefall are clearly imitators of Pain of Salvation, the voice of the unpronounceable vocalist is identical, exactly like that of Gildenlow: and this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is, in fact, a gamble. A successful gamble, a bet won.

The album "Self Exile" (2006, 11 tracks, duration 51 min) is a small masterpiece of heavy prog where our Hellenic friends demonstrate a frightening cohesion and launch all the arrows in their quiver: too many, even. If one must make a negative remark, it's the desire to attempt "too much," to dabble in too many genres - combinations not always digestible with electronics, folk interludes that strangle the rhythm, female voices sometimes not entirely impeccable - to the detriment of the continuity of the work.

Among the most appreciable songs, after the evocative intro, it starts with "Willow Man", and "The Muzzle Affection", a sort of declaration of war of guitars and drums, softened by the bucolic "Dance of Descent". The truce lasts little because with "Another Empty Haven" one reaches one of the highest points of the album. Still at the forefront is the outstanding technical performance of the (also unpronounceable!) drummer.

The album maneuvers between peaks - the devastating "E.Y.E.", the superb "Utopia Fragmented" - up to the softer and more desolate closure of "Provoke the Divine".

The final impression is that of a solid yet not perfect album, by a band that if it does not want to live forever in the name (and shadow) of the Swedes, will have to break away from many passages that too clearly evoke them. However, the technique, conviction, and security behind the instruments are absolutely worthy of top marks.