With a name like Virtual Symmetry and a twenty-minute opening track, you might hazard a guess that we’re in classic Progressive Metal territory here, and you would of course be right. But that also may be because you already know of this impressive Swiss-based band, as this is their third album in six years and are already very much one of the shining lights in the genre. For the uninitiated Virtual Symmetry take their own approach to Progressive Metal, building on a Symphony X type sound and utilizing plenty of keyboards similar to Artension from back in the day. Virtual Symmetry however have the ability to entice many a new listener into the heady world of Progressive Metal due to an approach that is more vocally and musically orientated towards melody and memorability than others of their ilk.
There is actually quite a bit about Virtual Symmetry’s sound that reminds me of the halcyon days of Progressive Metal around the turn of the Millennium, where many bands such as the aforementioned Artension along with Dreamscape, Time Machine, Magnitude 9, Enchant and more were finding their own individual ways of balancing memorable vocal hooks and melodic musical elements with progressive technicality after Dream Theater and the like had previously done the groundwork. Twenty years on and Virtual Symmetry make it all sound so easy, such is the march of time, but far from this being a retrospective trip down memory lane (Retrospective Progressive? I’m not sure that’s physically possible…), this is a band who have basically said “Ah yes, we see all that and we take it on board. but personally we’d do it this way” and they emphatically do.
That twenty minute opener certainly sets the scene, but it isn’t a matter of being three songs shoe-horned into one, there is a continuity that means the track is this length because it just had to be to show its full potential, and it seems to be over just as quickly as any other song on the album. The following tracks weigh in at a more immediately graspable 4 to 7 minutes, yet there is as much going on in those songs individually as the opener, with that strong emphasis on vocal and musical melody being just as important as technicality which makes this album more instantly accessible than some others in a similar vein. Guitarist Valerio Æsir Villa and keyboard player Marco Bravi lead the music expertly, weaving intricate tapestries with just enough room for Fallen Sanctuary/Temperance/Wonders singer Marco Pastorino to cast his vocal magic over the top. It’s only with further listens that the nuances of the dynamic bass and drums become more apparent along with all the other hidden gems that a good Progressive Metal album should have. And this certainly is a good Progressive Metal album in the classic style, with just enough of Virtual Symmetry’s own personal stardust sprinkled on top to make it even more palatable.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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