RockRoast

I have only just recently become aware that Dominici is planning to release their third studio album pretty soon.

From the bits and pieces I’ve been able to scrounge up about this act, it seems clear to me that this next release will be worth buying. They seem to be mainly a metal band with a healthy progressive edge, but with the rare ability to sidestep the usual prog trappings of bombast and cheesiness. While the concept of the O3 trilogy may have the proggish problem of being a bit overdramatic, what I’ve heard follows in the tradition of “Operation: Mindcrime” in that the lyrical drama is matched well enough by the music to make it work.

And those who may be familiar with frontman Charlie Dominici’s previous work with Dream Theater will be happy to know that his voice blends well with the prog-metal sound of his new band. The production is up to snuff, so there are no strained, fading “Killing Hand” moments. All in all, I’m excited about this. I might have to start amending my Top Ten Albums of 2008 sooner than I expected.

Dominici’s “O3: A Trilogy, Part 3″ is scheduled for release on April 22 by InsideOut.

Well, it’s mid-February. Which means it’s still cold and gloomy outside, at least in this part of the world. Which may be why I’ve been listening to so much death metal lately.

But anyway. Speaking of death metal and mid-February, there may be a bit of news that could cheer up anyone suffering from winter blues. Progressive/melodic death metal band Into Eternity may soon be checking into a studio to begin recording their next album. Mid-February was the estimated starting date for the recording process, according to a January 23rd post by guitarist Tim Roth on Into Eternity’s official website.

I’m not familiar with Into Eternity’s catalog in depth, but I did pick up their last effort, “The Scattering of Ashes,” a few months back. I can’t say I was too impressed. I’m a bit picky about death growls, and I didn’t consider Into Eternity’s to have been tastefully done. Not to mention the music was pretty ridiculous, all super-fast playing with clumsy time signature changes and overcaffeinated blast beats. However, when they mellowed out, sang cleanly, and held back a little on the theatrics, they really shined. And that at least showed some promise for the future.

But not enough for me. I wasn’t interested in buying any more music from these guys. But then I happened to read on their website (the November 5th news post) that they were working on a concept album. I’m a big sucker for a concept album, so all of a sudden, I’m interested in these guys again. With a little luck, they’ll create a cool concept to accompany their work, hopefully shying away a bit from the emo-ness of their lyrics on “The Scattering of Ashes.” And if the music matures a bit too, I might actually thoroughly enjoy this next one.

That’s not to say that they couldn’t totally screw it up, though. Honestly, I’m not expecting much, but I’m attempting to keep a postive perspective to combat the gloomy weather.

Roadrunner Records recently announced the title and tracklisting for the upcoming Opeth album. Based on the label’s predictably glowing review, it could contain a wide range of sounds and emotions, spanning from Opeth at is gentlest to Opeth at its most agressive. But going by frontman Mikael Akerfeldt’s statements, light or heavy, “It won’t be a boring record.”

Well, thanks, Mr. Akerfeldt. That’s quite a relief.

Watershed will be released on June 2nd.