Sporadic use of tracks for strings, choirs, or the like is acceptable, but if your band relies on them in the live setting, you’re cheating.įates Warning is, however, one of the many bands that openly plays to click tracks on stage. It’s a simple and honest enough approach to live performance that I can’t for the life of me comprehend why it’s not universal. The lush sonic landscapes of the original are here replicated solely by the musicians on stage, with no help from any backing tracks, loops, or sequencers. That approach is embodied on “Wish,” quite possibly the most moving cut in Fates Warning‘s terrifyingly human catalog. That roughness, in fact, adds to the song’s desperation and makes this cut one of the live album’s many highlights.Īnd this is just another territory Fates Warning is quietly conquering: Matheos and crew have consciously eschewed the modern plague of metal bands relying on backing tracks to replicate their music on stage Fates Warning gives a tacit but emphatic middle finger to such crutches, saying “fuck that nonsense” to legions of lesser bands who will not or simply cannot rely on their professionalism to perform their own music. The band’s absolute dominance of this latter-day masterpiece forgives singer Ray Alder‘s roughness at the high end during the refrain. The already plenty-heavy “The Light and Shade of Things” highlights the band’s aptitude and fluency in covering a broad spectrum of moods and sounds – light and shade, if you will – without ever straying from their drums/bass/two guitars/voice setup. A truncated “Pieces of Me” also appears in a keyboardless interpretation, which highlights how heavy that song actually is despite the reputation Disconnected has among some fans. The band then firmly pummels back into heavier territory with a number of tracks from their two most recent albums as well as “Pale Fire,” from the mostly overlooked 1994 album Inside Out. Live Over Europe begins with Theories of Flight‘s blistering opening track followed by longtime crowd favorites “Life in Sill Water” and “One,” and it is on these two cuts where we subtly hear how Fates Warning‘s live approach has changed since Zonder left the band in 2005 the infamous electronic splash cymbal on the former is noticeably and tastefully replaced by an acoustic one, and the verses on “One” are interpreted solely by bassist Joey Vera. ![]() All that was left was to adapt the spacier material of X, Disconnected, and A Pleasant Shade of Gray to an ensemble that no longer relied on electronics in the live setting. With the unabashedly metal Bobby Jarzombek (ex- Halford, Riot, et al) behind the kit, Jim Matheos and crew redefined the Fates Warning sound yet again, to absolutely crushing effect. That dedication has been on full, unambiguous display for over twenty years, but particularly since Fates Warning broke their nine-year studio silence with 2013’s Darkness in a Different Light, an unapologetically metallic assault that decisively shut the traps of naysayers who complained of the dreamlike ambiance that former drummer Mark Zonder and longtime collaborator Kevin Moore (yes, that Kevin Moore) had woven into the Fates Warning sound over the previous three records. A unit that routinely cranks out material as meritorious as it is multifarious, these Connecticut exiles owe their longevity and enduring relevance to mastery of their craft, stylistic flexibility, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. ![]() I will never tire of saying how lucky we are to exist in the same world as Fates Warning.
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