KOLONY — Sledge (review)

KOLONY — Sledge album cover Album · 2014 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Time Signature
Anthem...

Genre: progressive metal

Kolony is another band that I had not heard before. They are often described as either a traditional metal band or a power metal band. "Sledge" is their second fill-length effort, their debut "Warning" was released in 2011, so they're not quite noobies.

Anyway, I had not heard "Warning" before giving this album a spin, and, to be honest, the slightly symphonic instrumental intro 'I Realize' lead me down a garden path at the end of which I expected to find a small pond of cheese in the form of lame symphonic power metal.

That's not what I found at the end of the garden path. "Sledge" turned out to be a fierce and solid slab of modern metal, blending power metal, thrash metal, and traditional metal into a unique style which I consider to be bona fide progressive metal. Each track is hugely eclectic and sophisticated - for instance, 'Anthem' successfully combines epic power metal, folk metal, and thrash metal, while 'The Trial' offers up Judas Priest style riffing with a dissonant twist and combined with bewildering guitar harmonies bordering on what one might hear in lighter technical death metal. 'I Don't Care' is heavy and epic, while 'Road' rivals the melodies of a revived Carcass, and there are elements of what s probably best describe as dark swing in 'Monopoly'.

As mentioned, this is bona fide progressive metal to me. Many people might not agree with this, but Kolony's "Sledge" is just too complex and eclectic to fit into any one single metal subgenre other than progressive metal. There are plenty of quirks and progressive elements in the music anyway. The compositions are far from simplistic, and are characterized by a progressive dynamism, and the musicianship and production are both top notch.

This is simply a heavy metal masterpiece.
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