LAST WARNING – Throughout Time

When you think about it, don’t you ever wonder why Progressive Metal always shows up with long pieces of music? If the band is playing Prog, its members have to be well trained and talented players. Last Warning are not different from any other Prog Metal band and they use the same icons and musical writings of many others. However, their “comeback” release from their long break is a promising feature.

The six Italians were formed into a band near the end of the 80s (1987) in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, playing Prog / Metal, which is actually consisting of Heavy / Power Metal with speed and technical implanted elements. One exceptional factor regarding Last Warning is hard to understand and it concerns their long breaks during their career, with hope that these breaks were not because of tragic events between the members or to the members themselves.

In 1993 they released their demo, Bloody Dream. In 1994, under the Music Is Intelligence label (what a name for a label for a Prog Metal band?), they released their debut release, From The Floor Of The Well. After that album, the band just stopped releasing until six years later in 2000. After changing their label to Underground Symphony, the second album, Under A Spell, was released. Then it was the case, as it was back in 1994, the band had another longer break, for nine years, until Throughout Time broke out last month under the band’s new label, My Kingdom Music. Throughout Time continues the same line of music like the ones before them… complex, melodic and dark Progressive Metal.

Last Warning presents a variety of complex rhythm sections played both by guitars and bass, challenging and highly performed solos, soaring and emotional vocal lines and well skilled drumming. When producing Prog Metal, the players should know what they are doing and with their talents and skills they help make a complex composition. The same goes for Last Warning, the band is performing well and the songs are well organized. The themes by the band are concerned with mystery, grief, psychological issues and ordinary days life.

From the top of “Madness” until “Bloody Dream”, all is well and good. “Madness” is a well done piece of mystery and suspense, kind of like Dream Theater’s Awake or Scenes From A Memory, with driving guitars along with keyboard harmonics. The singer, Fabio Del Sal, is doing a very good job on keeping this one and the others emotional and, in a way, powerful. Del Sal is not a screamer and doesn’t have accent troubles but he still has sufficient motifs that are expected from a singer in Prog Metal or even Heavy / Power Metal for that matter.

“Secret”, not as good as its former, but it’s a nice listen with good chorus and great guitar work all around. Then comes one of the best on this album, “It Slowly Dries My Tears”, which is a well composed song. Throughout the song there is a beautiful atmosphere, created by the keyboards, along with charming acoustic rhythms that goes well with Del Sal’s soft singing. Near the end of it, everything turns red and the distorted guitars create a well done ending with a heart breaking solo.

“Bloody Dream”, a remake from their 1993 demo, is rougher than the previous ones and charges with Speed / Power Metal attack, good vocals and excellent drumming by Ivan Moni Bidin. Then comes the self-titled track, in overall it’s almost okay, the reasons for starters is its length, the song can be summarized in 5 or 6 minutes. It reflects the feeling that it has no direction. Its beginning is good and it has a nice rhythm but to what end, and it lasts for 9 minutes. The course is banal, but banal can be interesting also, but not this one.

“For A Lifetime” is an improvement but not as good as the first four songs. “Only Silence” is a well driving song with great rhythm and fast double bass breaks. The chorus is a bit weak but still the aura around the songs makes it a promising one.

“Higher” shares more Speed / Power Metal thunder than the Prog Metal stuff, and shows a line of great rhythms. “In The Flood” is the same as “Throughout Time” regarding its length and the lack of direction. In this song Last Warning added a female singer in order to create a duet with Del Sal. For some reason it’s hard to find the harmony between them. The female singer is much stronger than Del Sal and in itself does not sound too good.

The album also contains a bonus, which was found to be the best track on this release. “Cry Out” is a good and strong Speed / Heavy / Power crusher with heavy rhythms and mayhem-ic drums. Even the keys enter nicely into this one – an awesome finisher.

Last Warning had ventured upon releasing a nice release for 2009, with luck they won’t run out on the Metal world again for another nine years. Anyone who listens to this piece can enjoy it and you don’t even have to be a Prog Metal fan.