ALBUM REVIEW: Norchestrion: A Song For The End – Need
Bands with 15 years on the scene, four albums in the bag but with only modest success will always raise eyebrows and – as endearing as being touted as European prog metal’s ‘best-kept secret’ is – there is a less romantic answer to Greek quintet NEED‘s sluggish rise to success. Their 2006 debut Wisdom Machine was arguably best kept a secret where an unflattering array of vocal styles and an unconvincing mastering job left little desire for a follow-up LP. Having started in second gear, NEED have since pulled a miraculous U-turn after their 2009 sophomore release, Siamese God, followed by the audacious Orvam: A Song for Home and scoring hat trick on 2017’s Hegaiamas: A Song for Freedom.
The band had solidified their strengths and subsequently set out for world dominance supporting prog titans PAIN OF SALVATION, bringing a justified buzz to progressive metal’s underbelly. Breaching the new year, Norchestrion: A Song For The End could be the band’s most promising bid to rid themselves of mainstream obscurity.
NEED play a curious form of progressive metal and nowhere will you find it better realised than on Norchestrion. Nine tracks and a 66-minute runtime match the eccentricity of aforementioned stalwarts PAIN OF SALVATION to the glossy sci-fi leanings of DREAM THEATER (with Anthony Hadjee making a great case of the keyboard’s inclusion in metal); all of which underlines the tangible bite of modern champions like HAKEN or SOEN. This, in any sense, is a case of treading covered ground yet NEED draws upon its predecessors with enough creativity to usher in a project that is uniquely them.
Norchestrion arrives with all its best wares upon the table; the four-track run from Avia through to Bloodlux easily being the band’s strongest run on any record to date. The former is a great launchpad into the record’s well-honed soundscape, introducing us to indulgent flourishes of synth-key work as a refrained Jon Voyager navigates a tender chorus while the latter boasts an impressive intro of prog-does-death-metal before settling into one of Norchestrion’s most inescapable grooves. Beckethead and Nemmortal fill in the gaps and even dare to perfect the integration of groove metal flairs that flopped so hopelessly on their debut. From these tracks alone, it’s easy to see NEED being at the pinnacle of their craft and should hush any naysayers of the band’s current artistic merit.
It comes as a great shame, then, that a rather large, rather hideous spanner be thrust into the tightly wound cogs of NEED’s well-oiled operation; V.A.D.I.S. This is an extension on the band’s fondness for acronymic spoken-word pieces that personally prevent any of their albums from achieving regard amongst the genre’s finest releases. V.A.D.I.S sees two characters discussing the possibility of living within the early stages of an apocalypse – musing whether climate change and plastic pollution was the mere beginning of the 2012 armageddon. The sentiment is certainly interesting but the stilted delivery and air of pretension strikes with all the profundity of a high school debate team; perhaps V.A.P.I.D would have been a more fitting name.
Fortunately, the track is mercifully short compared to NEED’s typical runtimes and the following title-track and hook-heavy Circadian provide needed respite from the record’s momentary relapse. Whilst song-writing capability is definitely of note on Norchestrion, what really fuels the song’s engines are the band’s performances. George Ravaya’s riffs match hostility to intricacy a la SOEN whilst the pronounced rumbles of Stelios Paschalis’ drumming and Viktor Kouloubis’ bass work give more than enough to keep necks busy. Vocalist Jon Voyager, especially, has learnt to pull his weight. Early records showcased him as a talented but inconsistent voice, often losing grasp amongst awkward melodies that failed to compete with the band’s intricate rhythmics. These issues are long since ironed out and Voyager provides some of Norchestrion’s most emotionally gripping hooks and refrains.
Whilst some old wounds have healed, the band sadly have unearthed others. There was a time when larger tracks would challenge the band’s ability to hold the listener’s attention. With experience and time, however, things have changed – amassing in the 22-minute colossus Hegaiamas where doubts were put to rest. Tracks to this length impose a large statement and Norchestrion’s answer, Ananke, is a story of missed potential. It’s bookending moments meet the remaining album’s high standards but they surround a serious chunk of flab where NEED jam directionless into open mics. A confusingly schoolboy error for a band with heaps of experience.
A few slip-ups were made along the way, for sure, but Norchestrion: A Song For The End is affirmation of NEED’s deserved place amongst progressive metal’s rising frontrunners. If their discography is proof of anything, it is that NEED are welcome to change and will often thrive from it, leaving the band’s future full of infinite potential. Norchestrion: A Song For The End may not take NEED into completely uncharted waters but, for now, they reign supreme across their territory and are firmly poised to tackle the big blue soon enough; it’s simply a matter of time.
Rating: 7/10
Norchestrion: A Song For The End is out now via Ikaros Records.
Like NEED on Facebook.