Album Review: A Pleasant Shade of Gray
Appeared in: Melodia (July 1997) 
             - a music magazine published in the 
               D.C. / Northern VA, Maryland area.
By: Stephen (SWGIMS@aol.com)
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Since its formation almost 15 years ago, Fates Warning has been one of the trailblazing 
bands in the genre known as "progressive metal". To date, one of their most ambitious 
efforts has been the 22 minute epic, "The Ivory Gate of Dreams", from 1988's "No Exit" 
album, which many fans have considered to be this band's "2112". With their eighth album, 
"A Pleasant Shade of Gray", Fates Warning has become even more ambitious, pushing the 
boundaries of musical complexity to a new level. This new CD consists of a single, 55 
minute track, an eclectic mix of charging rhythms and dark, melodic components. Written 
by guitarist Jim Matheos, and aided by the production talents of Terry Brown (who has 
worked behind the console on many Rush albums), this lengthy composition does seem to get 
a little bogged down at times, but it is definitely one of the most interesting pieces of 
work to come along in quite a long time. At the very least, this record is a huge breath 
of fresh air in an industry that has been dominated in the past few years by an overflow 
of generic, pseudo-punk, metallicized hip-hop and industrial noise.

In addition, although the band has had several line-up changes through the years, there 
has been a major shakeup in the Fates Warning camp since their last album, 1994's 
"Inside Out". Gone are long-time guitarist Frank Aresti and bassist / co-founder Joe Dibiase 
(Matheos remains the only founding member left in the band). Stepping on board is bassist 
Joey Vera (ex-Armored Saint) along with guest keyboardist Kevin Moore (ex-Dream Theater) who 
adds a new dimension to what had been, previously, a dual-guitar band.

Unlike many epic songs, "A Pleasant Shade of Gray" is not divided up in to subtitled movements 
(although the CD divides the song up into 12 tracks for the listener's convenience). It is 
considered to be a singular piece and, when they hit the road this summer, the band intends 
to play the song in its entirety, without interruption or omission. Since there are no 
available singles on this record, don't expect to get a chance to check it out on the radio 
or on eMpty TV, this is something that you will have to buy or steal in order to hear it. But 
either way, if you enjoy rich, complex, symphonic metal (or simply want to hear something 
radically different) the effort will be well worth it.