GATE TO OBLIVION
Age of Athena is made up of Helen Illumina (Vocals), Zachary Sabean (Guitar & Vocals), Nathan Gross (Keyboards), and Michael Johnson (Drums). Together they blend their influences of American metalcore and European symphonic metal, combining the best that both genres have to offer.
Age of Athena’s debut album “Gate To Oblivion” is a mix of the bands influences from American metalcore and European symphonic metal, channeling the energy of acts like Avenged Sevenfold, Asking Alexandria, EPICA, Nightwish, and more. Throughout these 8 tracks the band showcases their musical prowess and diversity, showcasing soaring and beautiful vocal melodies, menacing screams, shred guitar and keyboard solos, large orchestral arrangements, and hard-hitting breakneck drums. ‘Gate To Oblivion’ arrives December 17th, 2021.
I had a chance to preview an advance copy of this outstanding album and as I usually do let’s take this track by track !!
Track 1 – Lost In The Darkeness — Soft keys into full on fanfare intro, guitars and drums ascend to pummel level at a rapid pace , I can see this making a great live show opener. Drum interplay is amazing, easy to forget this is a four piece band..sounds like a whole lot more players throughout this album. Key/Guitar solo is epic !
Track 2 — Fallen Skies — Here we get a taste of Zach’s harsh vocals mixing with Helen’s soft vocals…fabulous metalcore/symphonic blend loved it !! Fantastic lyrical content … the line that jumped out to me the most was -“The screams will bleed into our fate and collide – Immortal blood fills the sky.” Fantastic imagery my mind !! The keyboards of Nathan Gross spiral out of control on the solo…surrounds the listener like a whirling dervish…
Track 3 — Dance With The Devil – Kind of an Arabic tinge on the intro at least to my ears. Harsh vocal right out of the gate with Helen providing contrast with her clean vocal on the chorus… Mid Eastern flavor to the first part on the solo {again to my ears} then moves into a Malmsteenish shred fest between Zachs’ guitar and Nathans keys ..GREAT tune !!
Track 4 -Ephemeral – My favorite song both musically and lyrically on the album .. Keys of the first :25 seconds or so almost remind me of Pink Floyd’s “Time” It’s a ballad that is heavy and light all at the same time and I could hear genuine angst in Helen’s vocal… the opening verse just slayed me …
‘Is this how it ends? Eternal white lies
A light unto dust blown away like ashes
Only in the darkness, do I feel complete
Only here do I feel me
Shunned by those who don’t understand
The lives all led by willful blindness; and now
I refuse to live this way ”
Again this was my standout track on an album of stand out tracks … superb !!
Track 5 – Burn Down The Sun — An absolute juggernaut of a song until the spoken word section which surprised and thrilled me …I did not see that coming .. tempo change on the outro takes this one to epic levels !
Track 6 — Together We Fall — An almost regal sound musically and vocally on this song … keys on the chorus add a great texture, mid tempo which blended well with the outro to Burn Down The Sun. More excellent thought provoking lyrics with the line ” Why do we let them take life from us? – Rise up again and together we fall” being one of my favorites
Track 7 — All For Nothing — Rain falls the crescendo of thunder over soft piano intro I’d have to print the lyrics to the whole song as a fave as every line portrayed fabulous emotion and intellect . ….. Just when you thought you had heard all this band has to offer they show the depth of musicianship and sonic elements that allows them to take their music to another level…. Yes Ephemeral was my favorite song over all but boy this one was a close close second . Sheer extravagance of a ballad. Exquisite !
Track 8 – Sickness Without Sense — Wow just wow, full on metal core intro…symphonic blend on the chorus to spoken word ..back to metal core/symphonic blend. Yet despite the title it does all make sense ..perfect sense and the perfect closer…. Wow !!
The overall depth of this record both lyrically and musically is astonishing .. each person in the band you can tell is not holding back on their performance’s at all. The vocal trade off between Zach and Helen truly compliments the contrast and style of their symphonic and metalcore influences. The interplay between Zach and Nathans keys and guitar to me at time rival that of Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman of Yes .. they are that damn good ! And completely under heralded is the drumming of Michael Johnson his rhythms and touches of light and heavy are innovative and classic all at the same time.
To quote the band on the overall lyrics on the album –
“Lyrically, most of the record is about the ‘darkness’, acting as a metaphor for the lower state of mind and well-being many of us deal with every day. Together through music, we hope to overcome our struggles and look forward to a brighter and better future for everyone. “
I see a very bright future for this band and look forward to see how they continue to grow and progress ..Age of Athena- “Gate To Oblivion” their debut album will be available on Dec 17th if you have not preordered yet you’ll want to soon…. do not miss out on this outstanding band and music !
Review by LANCE HALL