review: Awaken -- monster work of an album clocking in at 90 minutes

Awaken (New York, USA)

Out of the Shadows

Pure Steel Records

27th November 2020

TRACKLISTING

CD 1

1. Black From Blue

2. Moment Of Truth

3. Ride Like The Wind (cover)

4. Drowning Pool

5. My Heart Of Darkness

6. Dachau Be My Destiny

CD 2

1. Out Of The Shadows

2. Only Your Eyes To Weep

3. The Spider Dream

4. Twist Of Fate

5. Nine Circles Part 1: Through The Gates

6. Nine Circles Part 2: The Dark Side Of Sorrow

7. Nine Circles Part 3: City Of Dis

Total Playing Time: 90:04 min

Fans with a deep interest in bands that provide lots of music for the money might want to look into this double album. For those fans, shouldn't it be a joy to have the prospect of taking on a new big project that lasts an hour and 30 minutes. Can you believe that a U.S. band released this album on their own back in 2019?! Their previous album is from 2012. They had much music bottled up, right? Now, they have signed a pact with the devoted heavy metal cultists at Pure Steel Records to give the album a new lease on life. We have been working our way through the songs with repeated listens to do a quality check. They have the goods for sure. It is something like this, if you imagine it: a contemporary legacy-style progressive band that may appeal to many fans of Fates Warning and Evergrey, on one hand, but also to many fans of Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Led Zeppelin and Rainbow, that older progressive spirit, due to some of the vintage-style vibes, keyboards, vocals, and compositional freedoms that they allow themselves. Fans of the more traditional forms of progressive heavy rock with singing may like to know that this music stays at a midtempo, slow-burner style. The duration of this album is really excessive, or generous, depending on one’s perspective, but if a person has the patience, the music may end up very, very enjoyable within classic-style pro-gressive sounds.

Awaken - Ride Like The Wind (cover) [Official Video]

Awaken - The Spider Dream [Official Video] (At Home)

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAwaken/