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All Too Human started in the mid-90's, in 1998 their debut album Forever And A Day saw the light of day. Four years later they presented Entropy. Now they are back with a new album and a new singer... Gordon Tittsworth (Images Of Eden, Dread The Forsaken) joined them in 2010 and only time will tell, if this works on the long run.
They kick off with Juggernaut, the title track combines power metal elements with progressive sounds... With a heavy rock feel. With Thorn In My Side they show a different facet... Reminds me a bit of Nevermore... I like the whispered words, nice effect. The keyboard refers to 70s/80s art rock which gives the song a different spin. The riff of Ruffian has a modern edge while the gang shouts add a dash of old-school metal... The backing vocals are partly not my cup of tea, but Gordon Tittsworth vocals are powerful and make me think of Andy B. Franck (Brainstorm), but then Clint Wilson's guitar takes you back in to prog metal. All Too Human combine different sounds and try to create their own sound out of these ingredients. You'll find references to Dream Theater next to 70's art rock and power metal parts leading into complex - or shall I say abstract - passages. But sometimes they just loose me... Like at Cut Me which is a bit too repetitive for me... without having anything memorable. That they can do better they show at Never Enough which has a catchy guitar melody, memorable heavy riffing and powerful vocals. For Burden they slow down, something's missing... And I'm not meaning that they need to speed up! With Catharsis they are back on track, this is almost catchy... But then they seem to get lost in it, luckily they get back on track and even if complex it's one of the songs you will remember after a few spins. The closer is Arrhythmia (2012 Remix) a heavy, riff-based prog metal tune with complex parts and the song where the guys show off their skills. I don't know the original, so I can't compare the remix version with the original. Anyway, the song is just shy of 8 minutes and so gives a lot space to experiment. But you will also find citations of art rock / prog rock which give this instrumental a different edge - for a moment.
Sure, progressive metal is often bulky and not easy to digest, but as All Too Human spice it up with other ingredients I hoped for some memorable melodies. They are obviously based in power metal as well, but still I miss some catchiness. Perhaps the album needs more time to grown on me... It's isn't a bad album at all, so check it out yourself!
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