"Beyond belief" by Azure Agony is quite unlike any other metal band I have lent my ear to. The album is a fascinating mixture of Instrumental experimentation with Guitar, Bass, and Keyboards, which, backed up with solid drumming, create a bizzare but beautiful album, with an incredibly progressive, avant-garde style.
The album, I must say, was wonderfully varied. Beautiful, serene tracks such as "Across Elysian Fields" are complimented by tracks such as "Secret Gateway", on which, I freely admit, the keyboard work sent shivers down my spine.
Overall, I have little but praise for the album, with the instrumentation and production being excellent. My only criticisms are the structures of the songs, which I found hard to follow, and remember. I needed to listen to each song several times for it to sink into memory.
Although I enjoyed each and every song, I can appreciate that the Hefty length, often around the seven minute mark, could be a bit long for those who just want a quick dose of metal.
All these things considered, I'm going to give it a rating of 8/10.
Links:
Azure Agony - Myspace
Azure Agony - Metal Archives
Azure Agony on Amazon UK
Azure Agony on Amazon USA
