Fates Warning To Release New Album, “Theories of Flight”

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Seeing the name Fates Warning pop up on my Inbox, the 14 year old inside of me jumped! “Through Different Eyes”, “Eye To Eye”, “Silent Cries”, and my favorite of Fates Warning songs, “Monument”, played over and over in my Walkman until the cassettes wore thin! Anyone remember those? Then compact discs led the way to today, the digital age.

The last time I saw Fates Warning live was on the Pleasant Shade of Grey tour in Pittsburgh, PA at a venue then known as Metropol. It was a great show and the crowd and band had fun. Unfortunately, due to the time and change of genre for many (grunge was rather big), the crowd was nowhere near what Fates had seen in years before. While I enjoyed Pleasant Shade of Grey, the band to me, went into, as I call it, “experimental” mode after that. Albums like “Disconnected” and “FWX” were good albums and I respected their change, as I am a musician myself, and change is always a great thing. Without it, you become stagnant. However, those albums lacked the “edge” that previous albums held.

Enter the addition of drummer, Bobby Jarzomek (Halford, Sebastian Bach, Riot), in 2007 and the recording of and release “Darkness in a Different Light”, which also marked the return of longtime guitarist, Frank Aresti. The twin guitar attack was back and the grooves even heavier.

Fast forward to 2016….

“Theories of Flight” is everything an old school to new school Fates Warning fan will enjoy.

Opening track, “From The Rooftops”, kicks things off in a smooth progressive manner that really warms the listener up before kicking into overdrive with the pairing of guitarist Jim Matheos and a solo by “occasional” Fates Warning member, Frank Aresti. Leading right into “Seven Stars”. In classic Fates Warning style, “Seven Stars’ mixes Jim Matheos’ signature riffage with the rhythmic styling of bassist Joey Vera and drummer Bobby Jarzombek seamlessly. “SOS” continues down the path that the first two tracks have paved the way for. With syncopated verses and a HUGE chorus, “SOS” will sure have your head grooving.

Fans of epic songs, as I call them, will love “The Light and Shade of Things” and “The Ghosts of Home”. Both tracks clocking in at over 10 minutes.

My favorite track has got to be the anthemic, “White Flag”. Once again bringing in the syncopated efforts of Joey Vera and Bobby Jarzombek, “White Flag” has a strong…and even heavier feel behind the screaming guitars of Matheos, as well as, featuring solos by both Frank Aresti and current touring member, Michael Abdow.

Vocalist Ray Alder SHINES on this release from start to finish. Powerful and full of emotion.

During a time of what some would call a “resurgence” of such classic metal groups, Fates Warning and “Theories of Flight” SHOULD be at the top of many a metal head’s playlist. I highly recommend it.