A Sound Of Thunder - The Lesser Key Of Solomon
Mad Neptune, 2014
1. Nexus Of Realities
2. Udoroth
3. Fortune Teller
4. The Boy Who Would Fly
5. Elijah
6. Master Of Pain
7. Blood From The Mummy's Tomb
8. Black Secrets
9. One Empty Grave
10. House Of Bones
I don't normally pay attention to other reviews when I review an album as I don't want It to influence my own review in either direction. However, I did hear that this album got a negative review because it did not fit into one specific genre or mold. Sure I do use genre labeling to assist the reader on what to expect from an album, but I do not use it as a crutch or as a negative against the album. That is just plain lazy. There is a flood of cookie cutter metal out there and we definitely don't need more of it; so when something fresh, new and thought-provoking comes out we shouldn't thumb our noses at it, we should embrace it as something to put the the metal scene on it's ear. Whether or not The Lesser Key will do that remains to be seen, I however for one feel we need more of this and less of the cookie cutter.
With that said I will stand down from my soapbox and begin to tell you about the wondrous beauty that is The Lesser Key Of Solomon. First off if you are not familiar with this ambitious project, ASOT have been around for about six years now and this is their fourth full length album, and along with a couple of EPs (not to mention they are already hard at work on the followup to this one!!) shows they are definitely one of the hardest working and most dedicated bands in the scene. These three guys and one girl are from the DC area and deliver an eclectic mix of tradition metal, power metal, hard rock, doom and a sprinkling of this and that. Yes indeed it is genre defying, but boy is it a breath of fresh air.
On previous efforts the band has always shown the ability to craft some ingenious songs which work perfectly with the gifted talents of Nina Osegueda, who has an incredible range and power in her vocals that is not often seen in heavy metal! From the power banshee screams and dark menace of tracks like Udoroth to the incredible soulfulness and haunting beauty of her tones in tracks like The Boy Who Could Fly and the slower parts of Elijah to her almost punky sounding crooning in the faster parts of Elijah, Nina can change on a dime. I believe there is very little she can't do with a microphone in her hands.
Of course A Sound Of Thunder isn't just Nina as there are three other pieces to give A Sound Of Thunder it's "Sound". The mastermind of this genre-slaying beast is Josh Schwartz who has a penchant for writing a bevy of tunes and if anything his writing skills have meshed even more with Nina's vocals more seamlessly on this album than on their previous efforts which though quite good and worth checking out, had a few spots that just didn't jump at me completely (which is to be expected with the wide variety of styles and scope involved).
I can't do the review without the mention of the stellar work of Jesse Keen (bass) and Chris Haren (drums) who without their incredible work to keep everything flowing rhythmically and it is their tireless work that really makes it all fit together.
In closing this CD is not genre specific and very thought provoking, but if you really need a label for it and since this IS A Sound Of Thunder then I propose we call this type of music THUNDER METAL!
\m/ 9.5 \m/
1. Nexus Of Realities
2. Udoroth
3. Fortune Teller
4. The Boy Who Would Fly
5. Elijah
6. Master Of Pain
7. Blood From The Mummy's Tomb
8. Black Secrets
9. One Empty Grave
10. House Of Bones
I don't normally pay attention to other reviews when I review an album as I don't want It to influence my own review in either direction. However, I did hear that this album got a negative review because it did not fit into one specific genre or mold. Sure I do use genre labeling to assist the reader on what to expect from an album, but I do not use it as a crutch or as a negative against the album. That is just plain lazy. There is a flood of cookie cutter metal out there and we definitely don't need more of it; so when something fresh, new and thought-provoking comes out we shouldn't thumb our noses at it, we should embrace it as something to put the the metal scene on it's ear. Whether or not The Lesser Key will do that remains to be seen, I however for one feel we need more of this and less of the cookie cutter.
With that said I will stand down from my soapbox and begin to tell you about the wondrous beauty that is The Lesser Key Of Solomon. First off if you are not familiar with this ambitious project, ASOT have been around for about six years now and this is their fourth full length album, and along with a couple of EPs (not to mention they are already hard at work on the followup to this one!!) shows they are definitely one of the hardest working and most dedicated bands in the scene. These three guys and one girl are from the DC area and deliver an eclectic mix of tradition metal, power metal, hard rock, doom and a sprinkling of this and that. Yes indeed it is genre defying, but boy is it a breath of fresh air.
On previous efforts the band has always shown the ability to craft some ingenious songs which work perfectly with the gifted talents of Nina Osegueda, who has an incredible range and power in her vocals that is not often seen in heavy metal! From the power banshee screams and dark menace of tracks like Udoroth to the incredible soulfulness and haunting beauty of her tones in tracks like The Boy Who Could Fly and the slower parts of Elijah to her almost punky sounding crooning in the faster parts of Elijah, Nina can change on a dime. I believe there is very little she can't do with a microphone in her hands.
Of course A Sound Of Thunder isn't just Nina as there are three other pieces to give A Sound Of Thunder it's "Sound". The mastermind of this genre-slaying beast is Josh Schwartz who has a penchant for writing a bevy of tunes and if anything his writing skills have meshed even more with Nina's vocals more seamlessly on this album than on their previous efforts which though quite good and worth checking out, had a few spots that just didn't jump at me completely (which is to be expected with the wide variety of styles and scope involved).
I can't do the review without the mention of the stellar work of Jesse Keen (bass) and Chris Haren (drums) who without their incredible work to keep everything flowing rhythmically and it is their tireless work that really makes it all fit together.
In closing this CD is not genre specific and very thought provoking, but if you really need a label for it and since this IS A Sound Of Thunder then I propose we call this type of music THUNDER METAL!
\m/ 9.5 \m/