Anthropia - The Chain Reaction (2009)

cover

After bouncing around the US postal service for a few months, this CD (And the band's earliest album) finally arrived in my hands last week. Having heard a few of their songs on their myspace I was very excited to give this album a few spins in order to write this review.

Anthropia is a very good Progressive/Symphonic Metal band from France, and their music sounds a lot like Ayreon's and StarOne's music, but with its own identity. "The Chain Reaction" is a concept album with a futuristic theme and provides for a very interesting read once you go through the booklet while the music is playing.

Right after the 'prologue' song, you are introduced to the core of the band's music, this being the progressive guitar riffs and melodies, few keyboards here and there adorns this track, and then the vocalists appear. All these elements mesh to perfection in a very well written opening track, a very solid statement of what's to come for the rest of the album. Every single track in this album is brilliantly composed, and they all flow perfectly making the whole album a very concise listening experience.

Differently from Ayreon, Anthropia relies only on their full time band members to produce musical magic. The vocalists of the band: Hugo Lefebvre and Nathalie Olmi, provide a very solid vocal foundation for the story behind the band's music, and each of them have a dynamic range to provide the variety needed for this album. The rhythmic guitar work at some parts sounds very similar to Dream Theater, especially the segments when the guitar and the bass guitar work together. The guitar solos are very good and would give almost any Progressive Metal band a run for their money.

One of my favorite elements of this band is the keyboards, they are never abused and they are present when needed. There are also plenty of Dream Theater-esque parts here and there when combined with the guitars and drumming during instrumental passages within the songs. They also provide the overall futuristic feeling to the album, something crucial especially because of the theme of the album. Apparently the keyboards on this album are executed by none other than Kevin Codfert from Adagio, so you know they are pretty solid.

I'm also very impressed with the overall maturity this band shows in composing such complex songs with beautiful melodies, for a second full length, this band seems to be too good to be true. I find my self wondering why this band has not received the proper attention than many other bands of the same genre, but with WAY LESS quality than Anthropia. If you are a fan of Progressive or Symphonic Metal you will greatly appreciate this album, so you better run to get while it's available.

Band: Anthropia Album: The Chain Reaction
Label: Adarca Records

Release: February 16th, 2009

Official Site myspace
Genre: Progressive/Symphonic Metal

Country: France

Rating: 88/100
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