STANDING OVATION – Gravity Beats Nuclear
- Posted on 07-02-2016
Three years removed from their impressive, left-field progressive metal debut "The Antikythera Mechanism", the Finnish sextet Standing Ovation return for the follow up "Gravity Beats Nuclear". Adding new guitarist Samuli Federly this year, the band continue to float on their own landscape in terms of engaging songwriting flow, waves of musical mastery while tempering certain sections for proper hooks and reflective nuances.
Expect vocals that can be very circus-like and playful during "Hellbillies" while the music is just striding along in this mid-tempo metal groove, while the 18 minute plus "Lifeline" allows all five instrumentalists the flexibility to gain the spotlight and intertwine in that Pain of Salvation meets Voyager way, keyboardist Petri Eskola often providing a lot of 80’s oriented piano parts (think Saga or Toto) against the brighter lead breaks for Johannes Kurvinen and the aforementioned Mr. Federly. My favorite is "The Great Attractor", a lot of the guitars and keyboards have this cat and mouse chase feel while vocalist Jouni Partanen glides over in alternative progressive rock bliss – holding out certain notes for dramatic effect. The rhythm section drives different time signatures into semi-blast propulsion, only to return to a more jazz-oriented groove the next moment – as you can sense, Standing Ovation give you layers to their compositions that force the listener to engage on different levels with each successive listen.
"Gravity Beats Nuclear" is another hour-long document into why the best progressive rock and metal combines left-field influences and obvious playing ability into a palatable format that even conventional music followers can understand. Standing Ovation may not gain Dream Theater’s stature, but based on their quality discography, should be in the running.