Fall Of The Leafe [2007] Aerolithe

Fall of the Leafe are a Finnish progressive metal band who have been around since the mid-1990's and have released six full length CD's, their latest being the strong Aerolithe on the Firebox Records label. While the band's music is firmly rooted in extreme metal, for the most part Aerolithe is symphonic, slightly technical progressive metal, with sweeping keyboards, dueling guitars, tight rhythms, and a mix of soaring, clean vocals and the occasional growls. Certain similarities to bands like Mercenary, Into Eternity, and Scar Symmetry can be heard, although Fall of the Leafe are not quite as melodic as the former, and slightly less technical than the latter two. Still, there is plenty of variety throughout the CD. "At a Breath's Pace" is a slow & majestic number with gorgeous keyboard tones, crushing guitars, and well placed clean and growling vocals. Fans of Dream Theater will love the chunky prog metal of tunes like "Graceful Retreat" and "All the Good Faith", two songs with crunchy, staccato riffs, tasty lead guitars, manic drum fills, and tons of keyboards. Some of the more melodic and catchy fare, like "Especially By Stealth", and "Minor Nuisance", are quite memorable actually, but it's tracks like "Drawing Worry" "Lithe", and "Look into Me" that probably hold the most appeal, as these are very accessible yet gritty rockers that sort of fall somewhere in the middle of extreme & progressive metal. If given the exposure, there's a good chance that Aerolithe would really click with metal fans worldwide. The songs are catchy & melodic, the instrumentation is top notch, and there's plenty of aggression, making for a very well rounded and varied product. Fall of the Leafe have all the tools for the big time-let's see what happens.