OPPOSING MOTION – Inertia

Opposing Motion from Lyon, France, spent the better part of two years recording their sophomore album Inertia. Was it worth it? The band says the quest for perfection, particularly with their sound and vocals, made the process too long. The amount of care and effort is definitely noticeable, but the end result can be difficult to process.

The band’s music is labeled Progressive Power Metal, but may be more accurate to drop Power from the label. Inertia is overwhelmingly Progressive. It is loaded with varying rhythms, tempo changes, orchestral flourishes, and virtuosic outbursts of guitar, keyboard, bass guitar, and percussion. The mix features spacious, clean, and majestic instrumentation, and well-defined, clearly audible vocals. The vocals, while not especially noteworthy for range and power, are professionally delivered with rich and layered harmonies. The song-writing is complex with perhaps too many ideas for one album. The songs evidence a Jazz influence; it’s difficult to discern when one song ends and another begins. In the middle of the title track, the band uses the sound of a car’s screeching tires bringing the song to a halt, then bridges to a completely new rhythm and tempo which bears little resemblance to the first half of the song, then revisits the refrain in the final ten seconds. Fans of more traditional song-writing will find “Windows To The Past” and “Optical Illusion” to be the stand out tracks.

Inertia is recommended for dedicated fans of Progressive Metal. Building connections to the ideas presented in these songs takes the investment of the time and attention of repeated listens.

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