The Cosmic Alloy - The Thin Line Between Love and Hate
Rock, Progressive, Metal
New Jersey, United States
Overall Impression: Having reviewed a previous track by The Cosmic Alloy, I knew I was in for quite the original listening experience, the band has a great knack for combining a number of different genres together in order to create a wholly unique sounding song that's brimming with great variety and abundance of interesting and strikingly diverse ideas, "The Thin Line Between Love and Hate" certainly follows this trend, effortlessly melding rock, prog, and metal together in a track of epic proportions, sweeping synth melodies, hard-edged rhythms, and a great amount of character made this an extremely fun and enthralling listen. Great stuff!
Strongest Point(s): At eight and a half minutes long, this is definitely a track that requires commitment, but thankfully the amount of variety on offer ensures this is an experience that is spectacularly rife with a plethora of interesting melodic and rhythmic ideas that are brought to life through excellent performances and inspired songwriting. This is very much a track of two contrasting halves, both bound by strong thematic threads that help keep the track feeling both cohesive and thematically well-developed, the first half can best be described as following a conventional rock song structure, verse, chorus, verse, etc. and highlights the impressive lead vocal performances, there's definitely an Iron Maiden/Bruce Dickinson feeling to this first half, the chorus has that epic quality to it, and you can't help but find yourself nodding along with the track. The second half is where the track moves briskly into prog territory, and it's brilliant, the mostly instrumental latter half is an atmospheric deep dive into melodic experimentation that does a very fine job of keeping the listener on their toes, which is no easy feat. Interspersed with virtuoso synth solos, superbly doubled-up bass/guitar riffs, and a great amount of ambiance, this latter half is a journey in itself and I thoroughly enjoyed being on it!
Target Audience Appeal: This is certainly for fans of the more progressive side of rock and heavy metal, great sung sections paired with strong instrumental writing make for one thoroughly engaging experience.
Artist target suggestions: Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Uriah Heep, Queensrÿche, Rush, Porcupine Tree, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Camel, Genesis, The Alan Parsons Project, Wishbone Ash, Omega, Mike Oldfield, UFO, Styx
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About the Reviewer:
Andre Avanessian is a freelance session musician, composer, and sound engineer based in the U.K. Having studied music production and composition at a degree level, he has taken his passion for all things audio-related to a level that has allowed him to become both a competent musician and performer. Being a self-confessed "Guitar Nerd" Andre has been continually studying the guitar, as well as teaching it, helping students both learn the instrument, develop their songwriting, and how to become proficient in home recording.