Ironically, Progressive Metal bands can be some of the least progressive units out there – in the truest sense of the term. Take Dream Theater, their fans buy their albums because they know what to expect, which isn’t truly progressive is it? The music will be technical, the arrangements will have surprises, the songs will differ slightly from those that came before but not too differently, and it will all be wrapped up in a neat little parcel labelled Progressive Metal by Dream Theater. In truth, having been a Metal fan for 40 years it becomes clearer every year that it’s all been done before in some way or another, so when someone mentions the term progressive, really all I’m looking for is interesting, innovative music, with a band’s own identity shining through. All the better then if you have a band like Avandra, who not only have their own take on Progressive Metal, but also like to develop and change with each successive release.

In 2020 this Puerto Rican band released one of the most laid-back Prog Metal albums I’d heard in a long time. Yes, this modern approach to the genre is nothing particularly different, but there was enough depth to “Skylighting” that meant its technicality was less obvious, you had to really listen for it. This ethos is continued with “Prodigal”, but in true progression it’s built upon and taken somewhere different. Avandra write songs based around a prominent musical theme and build out from there, which I really enjoy, and basically this time around, they just build it further, push it out more incorporating more vocal styles, including harsh this time, and introducing heavier musical elements to balance out that underlying ambience. Ambience, is the wrong word actually. I’ve said it before, but Avandra are Smooooth. They have a great ability to take the listener on a musical journey within a song, leave one mellow passage into an aggressive refrain and you are not quite sure how they got there because it just flowed so easily.

The songwriting is of course key, and these songs are delivered by musicians at the top of their game, but another noteworthy mention has to go to guest keyboardist Vikram Shankar, who also has an ability to add another dimension to everything he touches and also a big contributor to an album having a flow in its make-up (take the excellent new Borealis release for example). With some Prog Metal bands it’s all about sudden changes, a shock switch to catch you off guard, something Opeth were fabulous at, but eventually even Opeth realised that there is equal skill lying in a song’s depths and subtleties, and Avandra are masters at this. They put so much where there appears to be very little, subtle changes, vague innovations that become clearer as a song develops rather than just throwing it all out there at once. The variation in Avandra’s music since their previous album is definitely a step forward once more. Of course this is just one more step forward and more will be made I’m sure. This is a band that is constantly on the search to find their definitive sound. They are progressive. Basically, to sum up, the mellow parts are just as mellow and all the rest is heavier, more technical and even more adventurous. Maybe I should have just said that earlier…but that wouldn’t have been very ‘Prog’ of me would it?

(8/10 Andy Barker)

https://www.facebook.com/avandraPR