Hourglass - Adeia

Take 2.

The first time I reviewed Adeia, I had only one song to listen to. After sending the band the review, they mentioned that it didn't sound like I listened to the whole album, which I explicitly mentioned in the review. I figured it would be proper to redo the review after hearing all of "Hourglass" instead of just the song "Providence."

After listening all of the way through the album, I enjoy Adeia's work just as much as before, but for slightly different reasons. One qualm I had previously described with the song "Providence" is a lack of focus on the traditional instruments (that is, the violin, keyboard, and cello). On that particular song, the cello, violin, and keys seem to fall to the background for the majority of the song, only sporadically surfacing in any meaningful way. While I still wish that the classical instruments were a little more prominent, I'm very fond of the atmosphere and dynamics that Adeia creates using the combination of metal-riffs and guttural vocals with classical instruments.

Unfortunately, when you take that atmosphere away, the songs collapse. Franc does a good job on the vocals, seamlessly switching from singing to growling, and the Wabe doesn't seem to have much difficulty playing his parts on guitar, but none of the songs on the album sound like complete metal / prog songs. Not only does the guitar often stand out over the classical instruments, but it frequently sounds like a rhythm guitar more than a lead guitar. Along those same lines, there are a number of instances where either as a result of songwriting or recording, a number of instruments blend together and begin to sound like one vague, almost "bloated" instrument.

Ultimately, Adeia offers an interesting, dynamic sound that suffers due to the sheer quantity of material that they are trying to cram into a song. Definitely worth the listen, and if I remember right, its only seven dollars on itunes.

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