Perfect Symmetry

Perfect Symmetry is an important work on which FATES WARNING added more complex rhythm and tense construction to heavy-metal strength, greatly widening the possibilities of progressive metal. Ray Alder’s singing, the guitars of Jim Matheos and Frank Aresti, and the precise drums of new member Mark Zonder assemble the songs’ fine movements in detail. The odd meters and developments are used not as complexity for its own sake but to push open each song’s emotion. On “Part of the Machine,” “Through Different Eyes,” “At Fates Hands” and “Chasing Time,” heavy riffs and a low-center rhythm create the shadow for the vocals and melody to rise, rather than aiming only for sonic pressure. In the mid-tempo passages that draw you in, the space of each note and the spacing of the drums support the songs’ menace, sharpening the contrast with the faster sections. Dark themes and a dramatic mood are not sunk into monotonous weight but linked to the lift of the choruses and melody, widening the album’s scale. It is a full record that further deepened progressive-metal expression.