What's in a name? When it comes to A-Z, that's an interesting question. The band already had the connection made between them and Fates Warning, with Mark Zonder and Ray Alder being the driving forces. The ties to the past only become stronger on this second album, as guitarist Nick Van Dyk joins the band, who spent many years writing and playing with Ray in Redemption. Now, with all three of them mixing the elements of the past, A-Z almost feels like two timelines that have merged into one.
The first album was intended as a celebration of melodic hard rock, filtered through a bit of their old prog habits. I will be honest with you and say that record slipped past my attention. This record shifts their sound, bringing more of those prog elements into the playing, which in a way makes this album both better and worse.
The good side is that the music is more interesting for the new players. While the basis is still focused on making melodic rock/metal, there is more to this than the usual approach. Hints of thrash and prog creep through the guitar playing, toeing the line between being rock and metal. Melodic rock can often get too 'fluffy' when the wrong assumptions are made, and these veterans are able to wisely push in the other direction.
The bad side is that the combination of Ray and Nick make this sound like a more focused and streamlined Redemption album. Those albums they made together are perhaps my favorite prog metal, so I'm not complaining about that, but having the two bands sound so similar raises questions in my mind about the necessity of both. Regardless, A-Z has found a sound that is befitting of everyone involved.
That necessity comes in the form of tone, as the main difference between A-Z and Fates Warning, Redemption, or Ray's solo albums is in the brightness. All of their previous work has mined the darker side, with atmosphere being at the forefront. This record is the brightest and sharpest sounding bit of music I've heard from them. I don't know if I can call it optimistic, but it's certainly more upbeat and dare I say fun. In that way, it draws from much the same well of inspiration as Katatonia's fantastic "Sky Void Of Stars" a couple years ago.
As the record unfolds, there is something special about the connection Ray and Nick have, as they bring out the best in one another. Ray never sounds better than when he's belting out melodies over Nick's guitar playing, and Nick's songs simply don't have this kind of life when Tom Englund is singing them. Ray's voice is deeply emotional, but still able to find the bright side to these songs. That lets them be not only maintain that human connection, but also cry out for return listens. The closing "Now I Walk Away" is one of the best songs of the year, and it leaves me wanting to come back to the album. That only happens when something is bordering on greatness.
Existential questions aside, A-Z have stepped up their game considerably on this album. They not only have made an album that will appeal to fans of melodic rock/metal, but they have also provided a landing spot for people who are disappointed in Fates Warning's retirement and/or Redemption's output since Ray left. This isn't the same thing, but it serves as the other side of the coin to Ray's solo albums to fill the spot some of us, myself included, see as empty.
Part of me wanted to dislike this album for personal reasons I won't get into, but I was won over by the end. I don't know if this album can ever have the level of emotional impact as Redemption's best work, but that isn't the point. Redemption could never be a 'good time' listen, so A-Z has done something worth noting. They have also, as the midpoint approaches, made one of the more enjoyable albums of the year. Color me surprised.
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