Released By : Self Released
Genre : Progressive Metal
Links : http://www.myspace.com/utopiantrap
Lineup:
Anand – Vocals
Vinod – Guitar
Chandra – Guitar
Farhan – Bass, Keyboards
Jai – Drums
Tracklist:
1. Impaired
2. Hollow Point Death Knell
3. Fragile
4. Hate Machinery
5. Like Child Like Man
6. Vicodin Baby
7. Rebirth
8. A Promise Of Paradise
9. Doctrine Of Premonition
I’ve actually been listening to the debut album from Bay Area prog metal band UTOPIAN TRAP for quite a while now. I initially received the album early in the year and was instantly impressed and though it is was quite a good effort for a self released album. Around the same time that I was preparing my notes to do a review I got an email from the band asking me to not do it at the moment. The reason was that they had decided they weren’t happy with the finished product and decided to take the masters back into the studio to get a better sound. Now, I don’t know just how many copies of the first pressing were sent out to the press, but once they had redone the production and re-pressed the album, they sent me out a second copy. Not just the disc either, but the full product. This is the sign of a band that obviously believe in what they are doing and are serious about moving forward.
I must admit that the differences between the two recordings were hard for me to pick up on, except for a few places where the album did sound more dynamic and punchy. But this didn’t bother me too much as I was already quite impressed with what I had heard earlier.
Some of the riffs could be classed as thrash metal, but I guess that’s inevitable when you start a metal band in the bay area that spawned some of the biggest names to ever be involved in the metal landscape. DOCTRINE OF PREMONITION has a bit of an eastern vibe to it at the start before opening up into some great squealy guitar riffs. LIKE CHILD LIKE MAN reminded me a little of DREAM THEATRE but with a haunting vocal melody driving the song. HOLLOW POINT DEATH KNELL is reminiscent of early METALLICA in the riffing department, but the vocals on this song didn’t do much for me.
The band obviously put a lot of thoughts into their lyrics, and reading along with the music is what I really enjoyed most about my time with this album.
Regardless of all of the better aspects of the album, I don’t think FICTION FADES INTO REALITY will be the album to take the band further up the ladder, but I do think it will help them to gather more fans across the globe and is a great starting point for a band with all of the right elements to make it big. The future looks good for UTOPIAN TRAP.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating: 7/10
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