ECHOTIME – Side

ECHOTIME - Side
  • 6.5/10
    ECHOTIME - Side - 6.5/10
6.5/10

Summary

Rockshots Records
Release date: May 5, 2017

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Italian Progressive band Echotime’s second album Side is a quirky, sometimes confusing concept album that has more in common with less Metal-infused Prog acts like early Marillion or earlier Genesis than it does with bands like Fates Warning or Dream Theater. The first actual song (the album is intercut with spoken word exchanges meant to advance the story) “Mr. Valentine” hits a fairly satisfying Metal groove, as do a few of the later tracks like “Hymn Of Glory”, and “The Orphanage,” which has some King Diamond-esque touches.  Whatever punch the harder tracks provide is cushioned, though, by the spoken word material and by songs like “The Bend Of Love”, a weird Cabaret-ish performance that lurches forward with the same plodding lilt as “The Trial” from Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

But, while “The Trial” works perfectly in context, “The Bend Of Love” sounds like the start of a different album. And it is, really.  The next tunes “The River”, “Black Dunes” and “Stream of Life” are quieter numbers and quite different in tone and effect than the earlier tracks. Second to last “Freakshow” picks up the burlesque vibe of “The Bend Of Love”; closer “Out-Side” is two minutes of piano and brush drums. Side ultimately is eclectic enough to defy easy comparisons; it is its own unique thing. As such, the mix of styles and dense concept might be bewildering to some listeners.

TUNE INTO METALEXPRESSRADIO.COM at NOON & MIDNIGHT (EST) / 6:00 & 18:00 (CET) TO HEAR THE BEST TRACKS FROM THIS UPCOMING RELEASE!!!

Author

  • Daniel Waters

    Daniel was a reviewer here at Metal Express Radio. Iron Maiden’s Piece Of Mind wasn’t the first Metal album he owned, but it was the one that lifted the lid off his soul when he received the record as a gift on his 15th birthday. He's been a Metal fan ever since. He's probably best known as the author of various Young Adult novels such as the Generation Dead series and the ghost story Break My Heart 1,000 Times, now also a major motion picture entitled I Still See You, starring Bella Thorne. Writing and music, especially Heavy Metal music, has always been inextricably linked in his mind and career. His first paid gig doing any type of writing was for Cemetery Dance, where he wrote a horror-themed music column called Dead Beats, and when he was writing the first Generation Dead novel he had a ritual where he started his writing day with a Metal playlist that kicked off with “Crushing Belial” by Shadows Fall.

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