Ray Alder – What The Water Wants
Label: InsideOut
Release date: October 25th, 2019
Website:
FATES WARNING-Frontman RAY ALDER puts out another record aside from his main band. Having sung in ENGINE and REDEMPTION, of course, this is actually the first real solo record of the American. His melancholic and mostly somehow fragile but at he same time powerful voice is one of the very best in rock music for sure. “What The Water Wants“ is full of atmosphere, melody and musical craft. The songs mostly came into being in close collaboration with FATES WARNING touring-musician John Abdow (g) and they can best be described as a mixture of FATES WARNING, REDEMPTION and MARILLION. Three songs were written by Tony Hernando (RESTLESS SPIRITS) together with ALDER. This true masterpiece will appeal to lovers of progressive rock music as well as to those who rather prefer melodic rock and even AOR acts. To me, “Crown Of Thorns“ is one of the best tracks of 2019 ever. It’s powerful rhythm, which his accompanied by a stellar hook line, is pure magic. Also a song like “Under Dark Skies“ with its sophisticated breaks or the last song on the album, “The Killing Floor“, showcases all facets of RAY ALDERs voice. More recent FATES WARNING shines through here and there but the material is not as hard for the most part. You can’t do it much better. Hats off, Mr. Alder.
9/10
Martin Stark
Tracklist:
- Lost
- Crown Of Thorns
- Some Days
- Shine
- Under Dark Skies
- A Beautiful Lie
- The Road
- Wait
- What The Water Wanted
- The Killing Floor
- The Road (Acoustic Version) * Bonus Track
