Style: Progressive Metal, Power Metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: DGM, Redemption, Symphony X
Review by: Francesco
Country: Denmark
Release date: 27 January, 2023
Vengeance Fulfilled is only the sophomore effort of Danish act Third Eye, but the production and songwriting ability of this quintet would have you believe they have more than just a single previous full-length under their belt, even if said last release was over ten years ago. There is a lot of quality material on this hour-long effort, and some moments of really great musicianship, but there are also a few pitfalls that the songwriting suffers slightly for.
Although overall the musicianship itself leaves nothing wanting, some of the guitar riffs on Vengeance can often best be described as syncopated and rhythmically grooving; “chugging”, if you will – especially over the vocal passages. This has become a really trite staple in metal recently and strikes me as a bit lazy. While the lead work sometimes presents cool melodic ideas, in the verses at least, the vocals take precedence over the riffing–although newcomer Tiago Masseti well demonstrates his top-notch power metal chops. And while the drumming on the album is tight and technical, rounding out the rhythm section is a bass that is most often relegated to loosely following the guitar, unfortunately. I think progressive metal generally allows bass players to really shine, and on this release, with few exceptions, I don’t feel that was the case at all. Lastly, the keyboard use is a little sparse but often provides ambient background elements and is even used a few times as a solo instrument–notably on “Forest of Lies”.
The tracks themselves are each quite well supported by huge, bombastic, and extremely catchy choruses. I think “Vengeance Fulfilled” is an absolutely standout title track with enough feel changes to make you think you’ve accidentally hit the skip button, and marks one of the few appearances of harsh vocals in its refrain. The track “The Silence of Indifference” well showcases the singer’s super versatile range even though he has a tendency to oversing monosyllabic phrasings, and this is especially notable in the album’s ballads “Even the Gods Cry” and “Fire and Lightning”. These are the only points where Vengeance Fulfilled stumbles. The songs break the flow of the album completely. I wish, I wish metal bands with clean singing would stop writing emotional ballads. The late 80s/early 90s have given us the best progressive metal power ballads that ever were or will be. There’s hardly a need for more and I don’t know that many modern progressive metal bands will ever come close to the writing of Dream Theater‘s “Another Day” or Savatage‘s “Edge of Thorns”, but I welcome wrong opinions.
I wouldn’t say Third Eye break new ground with their latest release, but despite this, I’m happy enough to add them to my regular rotation. Vengeance Fulfilled is a great example of a modern progressive metal album that doesn’t devolve into heavily-quantized djent monotony with post-hardcore vocals or break into rambling, incongruous start-stop jazz sections. It’s metal through and through–complex, melodic, and compelling.
Recommended tracks: Vengeance Fulfilled, Forest of Lies, The Silence of Indifference
You may also like: Anubis Gate, Inner Vitriol, Nonhuman Era
Final verdict: 8/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Label: No Dust Records – Website
Third Eye is:
– Tiago Masseti (vocals)
– Michael Bodin (guitars, keyboards)
– Martin Damgaard (drums)
– Andreas Schumann (bass)
– Jonas Hansen (guitars)
0 Comments