Review: Ring of Gyges – Metamorphosis

Style: Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock (Mostly clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Haken, Riverside, Caligula’s Horse, Porcupine Tree
Review by: Christopher
Country: Iceland
Release date: 19 May, 2023

As I type this, my colleagues are barricading the windows of the Progressive Subway offices against the hordes that will soon descend upon us with their pitchforks because I’m about to mark myself out as a pariah: I think Haken’s last three albums are extremely mediocre. The Mountain is a masterpiece, Restoration is a phenomenal EP, and Affinity has a lot to recommend it, but Vector, Virus and Fauna delivered a glut of djenty slop that has inspired a lot of worse djenty slop from legions of Haken imitators. It seems that the band members have focused their energies on their generally better solo material leaving Haken itself a hollow, inert slush fund. 

Having successfully alienated most of our readership (and some of my fellow reviewers who are now using the leftover wood from the barricades to make a pyre), let’s talk about Ring of Gyges, an Icelandic group who are clearly inspired by Haken. Their debut full-length Beyond the Night Sky was a charismatic work which recalled The Mountain insofar as it weaved classic prog rock influences into a modern trad prog metal foundation, plus a similar affinity for vocal harmonies. I was eager to see how they might develop this mix of old and new influences on their follow-up. 

Their sophomore certainly lives up to its title. While the general sense that these guys like classic prog rock remains—the mellotron makes its presence known, “Go” noodles around with Yes-esque bass and synth, and the vocal harmonies are still rooted in progressive rock—they’ve undeniably taken a step further towards a more modern, djent-tinged, generic progressive metal sound. Ring of Gyges now sound apiece with bands like The Stranger, Turbulence and, Altesia. That’s not a bad thing by any means—I really like some of those bands; hell, I like Ring of Gyges, too, but this shift towards a safer sound means they no longer stand as clearly apart from their peers. The shift is more to a Riverside sound with new Haken undertones, rather than a wholesale shift into the most egregious new Haken-worship.

Nevertheless, I always liked the timbre of Helgi Jónsson’s voice, and he’s undeniably strengthened his vocal game here with flavours of Jennings and Jim Grey of Caligula’s Horse in his style. “Dragonflies” kicks off the album anthemically with jubilant bells under the main riff, most of the riffs feature some rather sexy guitar solos, and “Nautilus” features some breakdowns of the br00tal variety. Despite reducing the classic prog influence, the tracks that lean into it hardest prove the weakest on Metamorphosis. “The Choice”, “Fading” and “Find Me Here” are fine songs, but the classic prog side of Ring of Gyges’ sound is far more reigned in now, leaving these tracks sounding more like modern Riverside filler rather than something an undiscovered seventies group might’ve made. 

The first half of the album comprises a lot of relatively short, accessible tracks from both the heavier and lighter side of Ring of Gyges’ reformed sound, all with the requisite riffs and hooks to catch a new listener whilst still throwing plenty of creative ideas at the wall. However, they don’t truly let loose until the twelve minute track “The Face of God”. The Haken influence becomes even more overt here, from the thrumming opening synths, to Jónsson channelling his inner Jennings even further, to the heavy post-chorus riffage. In its latter stretches, the evolution on this track becomes positively fun, embracing the proggy excess, and it’s succeeded by  “Sea Legs” which continues this trend, culminating in a rather wild synth solo. Metamorphosis is at its best with looser structure and wilder ideas. Everything Ring of Gyges do demonstrates talent, is well composed and threatens to worm into your ear, but I’d be lying if I said you hadn’t heard most of this before. 

I was never meant to be a martyr but the Haken fanatics are preparing to light the pyre they’ve lashed me to, so I’ll utter my concluding remarks: Metamorphosis is a competent and catchy effort in well-worn territory albeit a little derivative, just in a different way to its predecessor, but I remain disappointed that Ring of Gyges have watered down rather than doubled down. Anyway, the Cockroach King is approaching the pyre with a lit torch in hand so I’d like to add one more thing before I’m burned at the stake for my heresy:

It’s still better than Haken’s last three albums! 

Recommended tracks: Dragonflies, Nautilus, The Face of God
You may also like: The Stranger, Turbulence, Inner Odyssey, Altesia, Enoch Root, Transcend, Structural Disorder, Moon Machine
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives Page

Label: ViciSolum Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Ring of Gyges is:
– Helgi Jónsson (lead vocals, guitar)
– Guðjón Sveinsson (guitar, vocals)
– Gísli Þór Ingólfsson (keyboards, synths)
– Þorsteinn Ýmir Ásgeirsson (bass)
– Einar Merlin Cortes (drums)