Aldious - We Are (Review)

I really respect artistic personalities who perform a lot of intellectual work. But when you put a very high lath, then risk of failure is high.

My Rating: 74/100

First, here an interesting detail is noticeable: this release is formally listed as a EP, but contains 9 tracks. This is a lot - before that was full-length. I was very much afraid that a large quantity would affect the quality. It's very difficult to released more than one release per year, even if it's a single and full-length. There are two full-length albums. Nevertheless, quality is the main. I can't say that album is very good, but it turned out better than I expected.

Composers work at highest level: here we also hear a great variety. But now it's different. If earlier albums contained pop songs, now only a small influence (7 track) is noticeable. In most tracks, we hear a general aggressive pattern in spirit of late Overkill. There are also acoustic inserts. Even one song is completely acoustic (8 track). Also you can notice a very complicated (relatively standard for classic power metal patterns) rhythm section, on the basis of which you can hear many interesting things. I will say more - it's rhythm section makes this album interesting.

Voice is bad again. 15 years of experience - and as a result, indistinct groans. Nevertheless, some abilities are used in an interesting way. For example, use the bottom of vocal range in 7 track. Well, not abilities, so interesting ideas. But interesting ideas end here. Lyrics are pretty simple. If in previous album lyrics could be called interesting, now it's frank quickie. Yes, not all lyrics are written by Rino. But this is the only thing where she could show her abilities well.

Guitars in this release leave an ambiguous impression. It looks interesting, but I can't say that guitar parts are very diverse. Yes, alternation of triplets and pinch harmonics in 6th track is cool, but life does not end there. Nevertheless, guitar melodies are quite interesting. Also noticeable is an flawless guitar tone. About bassist, I can say a little - to discuss such a high skill level is just indecent. But it's worth noting very difficult and very interesting parts. This is especially noticeable in 6th track, which has a very uneven rhythm - all the shades of bassist's skill are noticeable here. Yes, I wanted to hear bass solo. But even without this, bass parts are wonderful. Drummer justifies his famous surname this time. It seems that she heard me. Half of drum parts are an interesting compiled mix of standard structures. But other half is something more interesting. A very complex rhythm section formula with interesting fills - outwardly it's clear, but it sounds very cool. But something late, she began to do something really interesting - it appeared on 6th release. But, there is an assumption that only now something interesting has been invented for it. Nevertheless, the result is good.

Will this flow of interest continue? Or they will be deflated as a balloon, meeting with a needle? Now it's hard to say. But one thing is for sure: don't have to release albums so often. This album could be better if it was released in three or four months. Well, the work is done.