A hero a fake-Let oceans lie

Victory
2010

North Carolina's A hero a fake seem to be moving along very well on their sophomore effort. It's easy to immediately notice that they apply parts of progressive metal, modern hardcore and some death style vocals. However they manage to pull the strongest elements of those genres and pull them together into their own sound. The part that stands out first is their love of winding, steadily changing prog rock passages ala early-90's Dream Theater. However unlike some progressive rock/metal bands they mostly avoid the trap of getting too caught up in just tossing out sounds to seem impressive. The straight forward vocals and their often steady pace allow them a sense of balance as they strike out with some heavy punches too. The guitars flow and create a wide variety of sounds all in a relatively short amount of time. There were some moments where I think some heavier riffing mixed in might have helped tie the music into vocals more. Also sometimes there were some lighter backing vocals that attempted to add some melodies into the approach. At times tht worked at other times they just got swallowed by the busier sounds that were going on at the same time. There are certainly some minor adjustments that could be made, but there is no doubt that this band is on the right track. This is one of those albums where I hearing more that I enjoy about with each time I play it. I think that has a lot to do with there being so much going on at once that it's difficult to soak it all in right away. That's a big plus for them because I like albums that make me want to come back to them because I think that I discover more nuggets with repeated plays. Worth checking out.