Metamorphosis is not exactly a new studio album, what it is is a re-release of Zero Hour’s first EP along with new artwork and bonus cuts. Why are they re-releasing an EP when it only came out a couple of years ago? Cos its now hard as hell to find and I stupidly passed picking it up at Prog Power III. Metamorphosis is not as dense as Towers of Avarice but they still maintain a high level or technicality, it just isn’t as overbearing as it was on Towers of Avarice, this is a lot more accessible on first listen. Also, there’s keyboards as well here played by Matt Guillroy and he does a fine job.

Eyes of Denial is a good opener, it’s pretty short but straight up heavy Progressive Metal. The Zero Hour machine kicks in though with The System Remains, a chaotic (yet controlled) beast that sounds like it could be Strategem’s younger kid brother. Erik particularly shines on this track, especially near the end in the brief segment where it’s just his voice and the piano. Rebirth is great as well, it starts off slow before kicking some more Prog Metal ass. I would recommend this song especially to break in Zero Hour newbies. Even though this is the bands first release they are killer musicians. For a “roll call” of the members check out my Towers of Avarice review. The melodies and hooks on Metamorphosis still require the listener to actively look for them but they are nowhere near as buried as in Towers of Avarice. Voice of Reason is a good example of this, it is another long track with many twists and turns but it still has some very identifiable hooks in it especially with Erik’s singing. A short instrumental is next and that gives way to Metamorphosis. Broken up into five different parts, Metamorphosis is a great example of what Grade A Progressive Metal should be. They synths are done tastefully and the seventeen minutes seem to fly by instead of drag on painfully. Some quiet interludes also break things up before going back to an all out Prog frenzy. Well, after the lengthy Metamorphosis we get two demo tracks, one for Eyes of Denial and another song Jaded Eyes. Jaded Eyes is pretty cool it has some video game sounding keyboard runs through it, reminds me of the ol’ Super NES or SEGA Genesis.

Fans of the highly technical Towers of Avarice it is a safe bet to say that you’ll also be into Metamorphosis. It still has a high degree of technical prowess to it, but is more accessible for the Prog newbie. I rate it just slightly lower than Towers of Avarice because while this is killer material it is way obvious that the band has matured and grown since the recordings on here. I can’t wait for the new studio release.