ARCH/MATHEOS

Shimmering melodies in multiple forms; sections during which emotion and music are inseparable, soaring so high that chills are a guarantee; a rhythm section able to steer the sharpest of curves without missing a single muscular beat; and riff/bass combos that punch and pull like a mutated form of TOOL, FATES WARNING, and SYMPHONY X. And that's just the 11-minute opening track ("Neurotically Wired") of ARCH/MATHEOS masterpiece "Sympathetic Resonance". It may take longer than usual to make it through your first spin of this John Arch (ex-FATES WARNING) and Jim Matheos (OSI, FATES WARNING) juggernaut since you'll be so inclined to revisit the glorious journey of the opening track before moving on. How many 11-minute songs have that kind of impact? The answer is "damn few." Then again, you'll feel that way about all six of these diamond cuts from what — in this reviewer's opinion — is a lock for the best progressive metal album of 2011, just edging out SYMPHONY X's "Iconoclast", though comparing the two approaches an apples-and-oranges proposition.

Also featuring bassist Joey Vera (ARMORED SAINT, ANTHRAX, FATES WARNING, SEVEN WITCHES),drummer Bobby Jarzombek (HALFORD, RIOT, FATES WARNING),and additional lead guitarist Frank Aresti (FATES WARNING),"Sympathetic Resonance" is an album that offers appeal beyond prog-head circles, thanks to the masterful composing involved. John Arch's unique vocals (an acquired taste to some) are unrivaled in terms of emotional conveyance. His ability to make otherwise peculiar patterns impossible to forget and push the melodies to stratospheric heights are just a couple of the reasons why songs like 14-minute tower of power like "Stained Glass Sky" keeps one focused with such intensity for the entire duration. The other reasons all relate to a single indisputable fact: the arrangements are magnificent. It is why a 10-minute song such as "Any Given Day (Strangers Like Me)" is every bit as praiseworthy as the more compact (at six minutes) and melodically direct "Midnight Serenade". Making track duration irrelevant to one's enjoyment of any of these songs is the genius of ARCH/MATHEOS.

Do we even need to analyze the work of the players involved here to determine the quality of performance levels? You already know it is beyond question. Regardless, it is worth noting that the guitar work of Matheos and Aresti both is exquisite. Whether the beautiful solo over Spanish acoustic playing on "Stained Glass Sky" or any number of monumentally metallic riffs and leads, some of which are reminiscent of Mike Romeo's work with SYMPHONY X, the brawny shred of — once again — "Stained Glass Sky" in particular. There is just so much to love in this album's display of six-string prowess.

Put it all together and you end up with a stellar disc called "Sympathetic Resonance". It is nearly perfect in every way, the "nearly" part only due to "On the Fence" being great instead of phenomenal; and you'd not be off base for dismissing such nitpicking and adding the half point anyway. Either way, enough of "Sympathetic Resonance" you'll never be able to get.