review: A-Z (melodic metal from the Fates Warning family tree)

A-Z

A2Z²

Metal Blade Records

6 June 2025

Our friends in Florida notwithstanding, how many alligator-on-the-cover albums do you have on rotation this week? If your answer is "none," "not enough!,"  "I want more!," or “You can do it, waterboy!”, then let's rectify that personal shortcoming of yours. I don’t know about you, but I don't have a particularly good memory, and I just don't remember too many albums with an alligator on the cover, except for a long-forgotten German band whose animal-themed albums I still like: a couple of their CDs do, in fact, have an alligator on the cover. Fast forward decades into the present, to a band named A-Z, featuring a singer and drummer that some fans may recognize, namely, Ray Alder from long-running melodic prog band Fates Warning and former Fates Warning drummer Mark Zonder.

Their band name is not too cool. The name of the album is puzzling (a pseudochemistry expression?). The artwork is such a bad idea. They should have run these ideas by their wives to fix the problem. I can hear the sensible and reasonable wives saying, “No, honey, don't put an alligator on the cover of the album! Babe, nobody wants to see that, seriously. Instead, use a band picture or something positive or cool. Anything would be better than a dumb ole alligator on the cover. Who are you trying to attract? Only people in Florida?”

No matter. One listen makes it abundantly clear that they in the worst way want you singing along. This is melodic contemporary ear-friendly songwriting done by seasoned experts at their profession. Expect midtempo and melodic classic rock/heavy metal aimed at hooking you in as fast as possible. This won't make people mosh, but it will make fans smile and maybe help make the work commute easier to tolerate. You've got it: good singing, intelligible riffs, expert solos, fun rhythm section and songs to remember.

In addition to Alder and Zonder, on guitars the band includes Nick Van Dyk from Redemption, which from 2005 to 2017 had this same singer Ray Alder on vocals for five studio albums. On lead guitars they have Simone Mularoni (Redemption [live], ex-Lione/Conti, ex-Empyrios, ex-Lalu, ex-Sunstorm, ex-Sweet Oblivion, ex-Frontiers All Stars). On bass they feature Philip Bynoe (Warlord [2013-2021, 2023-present], who has worked with legendary guitarist Steve Vai. In addition, Philip has worked with Ring of Fire and other groups in other genres that are not metal. Lastly, on keyboards they have Jimmy Waldo, who has a long career in music, including Alcatrazz (1983-1987, 2016-2017, 2019-present) and Warlord (2023-present). In the past Jimmy worked with Blackthorne, New England, Murderer's Row, Spirit Nation, Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Warrior, and Waterbone. It’s a collection of very experienced musicians making music that is accessible and melodic. It’s meant to be different from their other prog bands. It’s classic rock meets melodic metal that general audiences can understand.  

https://www.facebook.com/AthruZBand