MEMENTO WALTZ — Division by Zero (review)

MEMENTO WALTZ — Division by Zero album cover Album · 2013 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Division by Zero" is the debut full-length studio album by Italian, Tempio Pausania, Sardinia based progressive metal act Memento Waltz. The album is a self-released affair released in September 2013. Even though "Division by Zero" is the band´s debut album, they are actually quite a seasoned act, having existed since 1994. They released both demos and a couple of EPs before this release. The latest being the "Antithesis of Time (2010)" EP, which is a release that showed great promise.

Stylistically Memento Waltz play technical/progressive metal in the vein of acts like Spiral Architect, Twisted Into Form, Zero Hour, Sieges Even, Watchtower and when they are most jazzy Cynic. They play music on a very high technical level with fusion influenced drumming, loads of tempo and time signature changes, blistering jazz/fusion tinged solo work and a versatile vocalist who can sing high notes but also more raw type vocals. At times the vocals actually give off a US power metal vibe even though the vocal melodies are not anthemic in style. The tracks are generally complex in structure and there is a lot of focus on technical playing, but not solely as there are also quite a few atmospheric parts on the album. There´s even an ambient part featured in "Mechdreamer" and a track like "A New Beginning" is also quite atmospheric.

"Division by Zero" is well produced and overall Memento Waltz have definitely taken the right step forward with their music. The complexity of the tracks ensure longivity and even though the vocal melodies might not be instantly memorable, repeated listens reveal a lot of intriguing details in that department too. I could mention several highlights like the powerful and varied opening track "Omicron" or the jazzy "Europa (Jupiter II)", but I think "Division by Zero" deserves to be listened to as a whole. Sometimes the band go a bit overboard with their progressive ideas instead of focusing on catchiness and flow (like the slap bass part in "Europa (Jupiter II)") but that´s a minor issue and probably not a problem to most progressive metal listeners. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.
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