Style: Traditional progressive metal, progressive rock, symphonic metal (clean, female vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Dream Theater, Cellar Darling, The Great Discord
Country: Australia
Release date: 14 May 2021
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the 2021 Missed Albums issue of The Progressive Subway.]
Can anybody tell the people in Australia to calm down already? The heat that comes from that country is insane. The amount of quality, forward-thinking heavier prog acts that have come out of there in the last fifteen year is ludicrous. From Caligula’s Horse to Ne Obliviscaris to Karnivool to Be’lakor and back, those people gotta chill. They probably can’t with the temperature over there, but still. Acolyte here is the latest wonder-band to bring us the heat from down-under. This time with some wonderful symphonic prog rock.
OK sorry I lied. This album may be prog rock but really it’s prog power in disguise. The synth choices and riff types they go for would fit right in on a power metal album. If they put in just a little more double bass and fast paced riffage it’d 100% be a power metal band. As a power metal fan I found this a little disappointing, but it works to the band’s advantage overall. Entropy has all the emotive strength and anthemic quality of the genre, but does not take any of the cheese that frequently deters people. Morgan-Leigh Brown delivers a very smooth, emotional performance, and the darker synth patches help create a moodier atmosphere. I do miss some of the more intricate riffing patterns though. Often when they do go into riff mode it’s just simple strumming patterns or arena rock type open chord riffs, which compared to the quality of the rest of the music leaves me wanting more.
The songwriting of this band otherwise is just fantastic. They’re masters of tension and release. Symphonic metal is not something I generally associate with long build-ups but this band makes them work magnificently. Take the climax of the title track for example. They start with a simple, but tense groove and slowly let the keys start swelling, rhythmic vocals come in and everything just keeps getting more and more intense until it just explodes. It’s one of the best things I’ve heard all year. In general, the song also illustrates well how the band isn’t afraid to venture off the conventional songwriting path. At first it sounds like a typical verse-chorus type prog song but after the second chorus it goes off in this beautiful atmospheric part with multiple climaxes and the chorus doesn’t come back at all. “Resentment” is the only track that takes the more typical route as it goes for the straightforward rocker approach. All the other short songs are atmospheric interludes (and yes, that includes the five-minute long “Recovery”).
This means that merely half of the songs on this album count as actual songs. The interludes are all beautiful in their own right, but part of me wonders about their necessity given that all the long tracks have more than enough loud-soft dynamics to keep the album paced well. For example, the opening interlude always gives me extra time to reconsider whether I am committed to listen to this album and not something else, while if it started immediately with the riffs of the title track I’m less inclined to think twice about it. And between “Idiosyncrasy” and “Acceptance” there are two interludes combining for a total of seven (!) minutes. It’s not that they’re bad, but pacing-wise it becomes a bit tiring. Effectively there are three epics in a row, all of which are slow burners that start soft and end epic. I could have done with a more immediate, faster paced track there to spice things up (this is the part where I wish they were actually power metal sometimes).
In the end though these things are hardly deterrents. The album always flies by when I listen to it. The peaks this band achieves are among the best you’ll hear in prog metal. And I didn’t even get into the gorgeous production job they had which – given the fact that they brought in some award-winning producers – shouldn’t come as a surprise, or the wonderful Middle-Eastern inspirations in “Idiosyncrasy”. Entropy is among the best things I’ve heard all year, and you’d be a fool not to listen to it if you have any love for clean vocals prog. Australia has done it once again and delivered something fantastic.
Recommended tracks: Entropy, Idiosyncrasy, Acceptance
You May Also Like: Venus in Fear, Lost in Thought, Tanagra, Dakesis
Final verdict: 8/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Label: Independent
Acolyte is:
– Morgan-Leigh Brown (vocals)
– Brandon Valentine (guitars)
– David Van Pelt (keyboards)
– Jason Grondman (bass)
– Chris Cameron (drums)
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