t was only a matter of time, the effects and influences of bands like Planet X, LTE, Anomaly, were surely going to inspire some musicians to follow the ideal of joining the technical arrangements, and power of progressive metal, with the instrumental, and virtuostic ingredients of the more energetic fusion.
Stride is such a band, they really lack in nothing in sheer terms of talent, they have taken the very aspects of each genre, and put their name on a new product, called Stride. At times, while listening to the bands more intense moments, I am waiting for Russell Allen (Symphony X), or James LaBrie (Dream Theater) to start singing, as the music really has elements of each of these bands musical sides, solid musicianship at every position, and creative arrangements, and to their credit, they have wisely omitted a singer to distract from what they are doing here on Music Machine.
Joel Gregoire, of the metal band Helstar, has stepped into the spotlight on this cd as a guitarist well worth watching out for, which has become fairly common with many of the talented guitarists that have labored behind the scenes of many popular metal bands (ie. Chris Poland, Marty Friedman, Steve Vai, Jeff Kollman, Paul Gilbert, just to name a few) . In contrast to those guitarists, Gregoire, has not opted to be the star of this show, he is happily contented to be a quarter of the sum of the part that is Stride the band.
Along with Gregoires' finely honed skills on guitar are the keyboard talents of Rick Flores, he shares equal time as one of the bands main voices, he is a keyboardist that fully compliments Gregoire's talent, whether he is dualing on leads, or creating lush backdrops for the songs, he has a fantastic grasp on giving Strides music the needed atmosphere to make their music more than a guitarists showcase.
As mentioned earlier, when at their most intense, the band can sound as if they are the instrumental side of DreamTheater, or Symphony X, or at the very leat somewhere in between. But they are not a one dimensional band either, they do show a more introspective side on some of the songs, and are equally at home creating beautiful melodies, and complex themes. This duality of musical personalities, on some songs, becomes a confluence of sound, which lends immensly towards the progressive facets of this group of musicians.
There really are no weaknesses on this cd, and the future is wide open for them, hopefully their is enough room at the top, and Stride can keep building on what is a very good debut. This is a definite find for those of you who have an affinity for any bands that were used as references in this review.
t was only a matter of time, the effects and influences of bands like Planet X, LTE, Anomaly, were surely going to inspire some musicians to follow the ideal of joining the technical arrangements, and power of progressive metal, with the instrumental, and virtuostic ingredients of the more energetic fusion.