RockRoast

It seems to be one hundred percent confirmed that guitar wizard Marco Sfogli is returning for James LaBrie’s next solo album.

Of course, the fact that they’ve been “writing tunes” doesn’t mean the record will be out anytime in the near future. And that’s not a commentary on the seemingly inevitable delays of production so much as an acknowledgment that at least one of the band members has something else on his schedule. James LaBrie is committed to touring with Dream Theater from the end of April until early June.

But my hopes are high for the next record, regardless of when it comes out. Sfogli’s recent solo release has proven him to be maturing as a guitarist and as a songwriter. I’ve often criticized Sfogli for wasting his exceptional ability on unmelodic, emotionless, lightning-fast solos and tasteless distortions. But his own solo album, There’s Hope, showed a lot of improvement over his work on LaBrie’s last record, Elements of Persuasion. Amusingly enough, There’s Hope gave me a lot of hope for the remainder of Sfogli’s career. With a little luck, the record he’s working on now will prove that hope to be justified.

But now the strange thing is that, even though I’m a big fan of James LaBrie, he might not be the main reason why I’ll by his next release. It’s hard to decide which I want to hear more…more James or more Marco?

Well, my hopes for a great new album from Into Eternity were veritably murdered by an April 2nd post on their official website.

The band have announced that the title of their upcoming release is The Incurable Tragedy. Earlier, I had expressed interest in their next album because guitarist Tim Roth had described it as a concept album. But it seems the concept will revolve around the cancer-related deaths of several of Roth’s friends and family members.

Poor guy. But cancer isn’t exactly the best subject matter for a concept album. I was hoping for something along the lines of Pink Floyd’s The Wall or Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime. I wanted something with one of those awesome fictional plots. But it appears that Roth’s lyrics will be intensely personal and overwhelmingly depressing. Kind of like his lyrics on the band’s last album, unfortunately.

I suppose only the release of the album will be able to confirm whether I’m right about the concept, but I’m not as optimistic as I was before this news.

Couple that with the release of a demo track from The Incurable Tragedy recently released on the band’s Myspace page and I’m hardly optimistic at all. The song, “Diagnosis Terminal,” sounds like it would have belonged very well on Into Eternity’s previous release, The Scattering of Ashes, in that it is bursting with unused potential.

“Diagnosis Terminal” contains some of the band’s trademark sounds: quick, ill-transitioned time signature changes, mediocre vocals ranging from throaty screams to low growls to clean falsetto, melodies that alternate between flatness and beauty, moments of instrumental brilliance buried between loud solos and hyperactive riffs, and the usual raping of the double-bass pedal. It’s discouraging to hear so many things in one song that are so similar to the mess that was The Scattering of Ashes. I’d hoped to hear some kind of progression, a different direction, or a bit more variety. But “Diagnosis Terminal” is only one song. Hopefully the rest of The Incurable Tragedy will be better.

We can only hope.

Trapt, the alternative metal band best known for their song “Headstrong” from a few years back, seems very close to announcing their third album. 

Trapt hit it big with their platinum eponymous debut in 2002, fueled by the success of “Headstrong.”  2005’s Someone in Control failed to sell quite as well, although it did go gold.  Now its long-awaited follow-up is nearing completion. 

Yesterday’s blog post on Trapt’s official MySpace page made a few new songs available for hardcore fans on Fancorps.com. The same post also promised that “There are MANY changes a coming.” The next few days should hopefully give Trapt fans the information they’ve been looking forward to. I would like to know if lead guitarist Simon Ormandy really has left the band or not.

But the new album, Only Through the Pain, could be an important moment in Trapt’s history. It could be the beginning of the end or it could be a turning point. If Trapt has recorded an album too much in the same vein as their previous two, their popularity could continue to wane, leaving them to put out record after record to less and less fanfare and increasingly disappointing sales. Five years from now, they’ll be a one-hit-wonder. Or they could change their approach a little bit, write something a bit more challenging to their sound, and possibly recapture the success of their debut. Five years from now, they’ll still be popular and successful.

I’m hoping for the second option. Trapt is a great band that, in my opinion, shows a lot of promise. Hopefully their time in the studio will yeild something fresh and exciting. Few things are more disappointing than a great band that refuses to live up to its potential. (I’m looking at you, Audioslave.)

Only Through the Pain is estimated to be released sometime this summer. I’ll let you know when I hear something more specific.