Review: Course of Fate – Mindweaver

Style: traditional progressive metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Shadow Gallery, Pain of Salvation, Dream Theater
Review by: Sam
Country: Norway
Release date: 15 May, 2020

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the second May 2020 edition of The Progressive Subway.]

This album makes me happy. I like melodic prog metal and this band does melodic prog metal well, and they don’t even sound completely derivative! I am elated. Now let’s talk more in depth.

This record mostly shines at the keyboard play and the vocal delivery. The atmosphere created is lovely and I find the choice of patches tasteful. The vocal melodies are powerful and cleverly written. He’s got a very pretty voice and the way he sings distantly reminds me of Daniel Gildenlow from Pain of Salvation. I think it’s the tone also. Some of the vocal arrangements in the choruses also frequently remind me of Shadow Gallery. These songs are all very memorable. It’s not just a good chorus that carries them, but the music during the verses is very pretty and dynamic as well. It’s not just a standard VCVCBC structure either. The band experiments a bit with that. Finally I really like the drums and the production as well. The guy does some pretty tasty fills and tom work. The record sounds warm and spacious. The softer sections echo nicely, while in the harder parts everything packs a good punch, but nothing is overtly loud to kill your ears. The song “Wolves” shows the dynamic production nicely.

Some parts of the record I dug less were the riff work, which is a bit standard prog metal fare, and the solos, which tend to be a bit tame. It’s not like they’re bad, not at all they’re tasteful, but I frequently found myself wanting a bit more extravaganza. The climaxes for this reason tend to be a bit more mundane than I’d like. It’s not a big detractor, but it does make the difference between a solid album and an amazing one. Course of Fate do have the potential to make such a record I feel, but this is not quite there yet. That said, this is a great melodic prog metal album, and every fan of the traditional prog metal style should check this out.

Recommended tracks: Endgame, Wolves, Drifting Away
You may also like: Lost in Thought, Venus in Fear, Beyond the Bridge (bandcamp)
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Rock of Angels Records – Facebook | Official Website

Course of Fate is:
– Eivind Gunnesen (vocals)
– Kenneth Henriksen (guitars, vocals)
– Marcus Lorentzen (guitars)
– Carl Marius Saugstad (keyboards)
– Daniel Nygaard (bass)
– Per-Morten Bergseth