Back in the mid 1980’s, I discovered a band from Connecticut that was just starting to make waves with a new genre called “progressive metal”. That band was Fates Warning. With classic albums such as Night on Brocken, The Spectre Within, and Awaken the Guardian, I was enamored with this new style of “thinking man’s” metal. Led by Jim Matheos on guitar, the band also featured secondary guitarist Victor Arduini (later replaced by Frank Aresti), Joe Dibiase on bass, and Steve Zimmerman on drums. But it was the lead vocalist, John Arch that caught my attention with his unique operatic/gaelic vocal style; Arch quickly became my favorite vocalist.  Then in 1987, much to my dismay, Arch left Fates Warning, and the music business all together. Ray Alder, another amazing vocalist, who went on to record the classic Fates albums No Exit, Perfect Symmetry, and Parallels, replaced him. Arch returned to the music scene in 2003 with an EP called A Twist of Fate, but disappeared again for several years.

   It is now 2011 and John Arch has returned, reuniting with former bandmate Matheos to form the appropriately named Arch/Matheos. Arch and Matheos are joined by current and former Fates members Bobby Jarzombek, Joey Vera, and Frank Aresti to release the album “Sympathetic Resonance”. To put it simply, this is a brilliant return to form for both Arch and Matheos. Arch sounds like he is picking up where he left off on Awaken the Guardian, and Matheos’ riffs and songwriting on these six tracks haven’t sounded this inspired since Parallels. Every song is a masterpiece of progressive heavy metal. From the opening track “Neurotically Wired” to the first single, “Stained Glass Sky and closing with Incense and Myrrh”, the six song full length album sounds like Awaken the Guardian for the 21^st Century. I can’t recommend this album enough. If you are a Fates Warning fan, it’s a no brainer. A contender for 2011’s Metal Album of the Year!

Rating: 9.5