Zero Hour hails from the Bay Area in Francisco, USA, where the twin brothers
Jasun and
Troy Tipton started it all. The intention was to create dark and progressive metal, a thing that I will say that they succeded in.
The cd
Metamorphosis is actually a re-issue of their first cd, now with a demo version of
Eyes of Denial and the song
Jaded Eyes and of course the amazing artwork of
Travis Smith.
Since this is progressive metal, the musicians can be expected to be masters of their respective instruments and this is also true for
Zero Hour. One thing that especially stands out is the bass player
Troy Tipton. The bass plays a very important role and is quite high in the mix. This is a thing that you especially notice in the very technical passages when the rythm changes all the time. Great to find a guitarist who doesn't want to take over the whole musical spectrum. The two brothers are definitely both virtuosos and
Jasun's guitars play both very nice progressive and heavy rythm parts as well as melodic shred solos. However, there is one song where the guitar takes too much space:
A Passage is basically a long guitar solo which doesn't fit too well with the rest of the cd. Luckily this is the only song where this happens.
Another thing that stands out here is the singer
Erik Rosvold. He sings with a very strong voice but still quite high and melodic. Think
Russel Allen of
Symphony X or maybe even
Matthew Barlow of
Iced Earth but still with his very own style of singing. Definitely one of my favorite singers. He has the ability to squeeze anger out of a melody line while still singing clean. A very powerful voice; some of all the metal opera composers out there should definitely try to get their hands on
Erik.
Zero Hour likes odd rythms; one thing they often do is to play a small piece and then play it again just one beat longer or shorter. This simple trick adds a progressive and interresting feeling to their music. But this is just one thing I have noticed, the songs go from quiet keyboard parts to full blown metal parts, all very well composed and executed. The 17+ minutes long epic piece
Metamorphosis in 5 parts is simply amazing and at the same time both beautiful and dark.
The production is top noth, I really can't find anything to put my finger on. The guitars are crisp and vocals clear. The bass is a little high in the mix but I just see this as a part of
Zero Hour's sound. Keyboards and drums are very clear too. The drumming is very heavy and tight and the keyboards have some great solos. There are keyboards most of time both playing melody pieces and background atmospheric chords. Hats off for
Matt Guillory from
Dali's Dilemma.
Since this is a re-issue of their first cd, I have known their second cd
The Towers of Avarice for some time. That was in fact the first
Zero Hour cd I heard and while I really like
Metamorphosis, I must say that
Towers of Avarice is even better. Now that I listen to
Metamorphosis, I can hear that many of the great things on this cd are taken a step further in the right direction on
Towers of Avarice. If
Zero Hour will continue this way with future releases, we are in for a treat when they release their next album.
I think that the best way to describe
Zero Hour is as a mix of
Meshuggah and
Dream Theater and then something that is just themselves. One thing I like here is the really dark atmosphere which is there at all times on this cd. No happy love songs here. Technical and cold but still with plenty of feeling. This one comes highly recommended and if you like this one, be sure to take a listen to their next cd
Towers of Avarice: That one is even better.
Written by
Tajs Sunday, December 14, 2003
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