Alias Eye: In-Between

What with releasing only four albums in fourteen years, Germany's Alias Eye aren't exactly famed for their productivity. However what they are known for is providing beautifully poised progressive rock, that wanders into metal territory via a touch of fusion. Fourth album In-Between is no exception, with its main features being intricately crafted songs that are neither afraid to provide a forceful punch, nor adverse to being refined and restrained. Unsurprisingly after four years away there have been a few line-ups shuffles in the Alias Eye camp. However this certainly hasn't knocked them out of their stride, with their fourth album being a confident and assured offering.

With blasts of Eastern hand-percussion and wind instruments, "Arabesque" shimmers into view with vocalist Philip Griffiths sounding rather similar to Threshold's Damian Wilson, with his wonderfully precise approach adding an extra colour to already expansive ideas. The guitar work ranges from bold, brash riffs, to less up front pulses, while the keyboards continually alter the landscape through ever changing layers of atmospheres. It is a strong indication of what else you can expect from this album, with the likes of "In-Between" using jazzy horns to punctuate a flowing, swinging shuffle, while "All The Rage" finds Griffiths spitting out the lyrics over an electro-beat and gritty slab of guitars. Whether through its harshly insistent fare, or the more classically progressive offerings, In-Between consistently catches the ear, drawing you in and offering songs which convince from start to finish.

Teaming up with his father, Martin Griffiths, Philip and his band mates really come up trumps with a cover of the Beggars Opera classic (Martin was a member of Beggars...) "Time Machine". The blending of father and son voices works stunningly well, although it is the smooth guitar contribution from Matthias Wurm that really raises this track towards being the strongest song included. That said, Alias Eye are not a band that need to rely on cover versions to impress, with the likes of the bristling "Indentured Pride" or the quirky, poppy "Take What's Mine" being amongst the highlights on what is a classy album throughout.

Track Listing
1. Arabesque
2. Break What We Know
3. In-Between
4. Time Machine
5. Indentured Pride
6. Stars Shall Fall
7. All The Rage
8. Distant Memories
9. Take What's Mine
10. The Blink Of An Eye

Added: June 15th 2012
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: The Official Alias Eye WebSite
Hits: 2891
Language: english

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