Age Of Nemesis – Psychogeist

Here’s something you don’t get to see very often. Age Of Nemesis is progressive metal band from Hungary. I wasn’t sure what to expect since a lot of bands from that part of the world who choose to do English speaking albums tend to be hard to understand through a thick accent. This was obviously a concern of the band but Age Of Nemesis cuts right through this dilemma. Zoltan Kiss sings as though English is his first language. This, of course, allowed me to kick back and enjoy this CD, as progressive metal is my favorite genre of music.

I wasn’t disappointed at all. In fact I was quite surprised, because most progressive metal bands fall short of the mark. Age Of Nemesis has hit the mark and beyond. This is a very meticulously sharp band. From beginning to end AON sounds like perfect students of bands like Dream Theater and Symphony X. Given the chance, I am sure these guys could rank among the best of them, since the student almost always surpasses the teacher. The rhythm section is extremely tight and punchy and both Gyorgy Nagy (keys) and Zoltan Fabian (guitar) are exceptional. What a guitar tone!!

The first six compositions on Psychogeist tell a tale of a boy and what appears to be his doppelganger. I won’t spoil the fun for those that don’t like to know what happens before listening to it on their own. I will admit that I will have to give it a few more listens, as I was far too impressed with the musicianship to get the entire story line during my first few hearings. My only disappointment here is the lack of printed lyrics in the packaging. Nonetheless, this CD will get listened to quite a bit. Also, if you pop the disc into your pc, you’ll find a very well done video of the opening track, Fate’s Door.

This is a great progressive metal band that we will be hearing a lot more from in the future. Psychogeist was originally released in Hungarian in 2002 and from my understanding they will be releasing another one of their previously recorded albums in English as well as an instrumental CD on the Magna Carte label. I highly recommend Age Of Nemesis – Psychogeist to any huge fan of progressive metal. It’s well worth the purchase price.