Anthropia - Non-Euclidean Spaces
Adarca Records
Progressive/Symphonic Power Metal
12 songs (1:11:00)
Release year: 2015
Anthropia, Adarca Records
Reviewed by Joel
The French band Anthropia returns after a five plus year wait, with the Lovecraft-ian themed Non-Euclidean Spaces. The music definitely stands on its own without the knowledge of the subtext. A mixture of symphonic, power and even progressive metal elements fill the next seventy plus minutes of music. To explain every song in detail would not even begin to give you an idea, of what Anthropia's created here. This is definitely a cd to experience. With two vocalists, Hugues LeFebvre and Nathalie Olmi. The Melancholy of RC features more of the latter on vocals, but the two interwine nicely during select verses and the choruses. Silver Twilight Lodge is one of the coolest songs I have ever heard in a long time, at least as far as originality comes in. While the first forty seconds is nothing to get excited about during its eery soundy intro. It is after that, an almost dissonant sounding guitar riff comes in, and finds itself throughout several parts of the song. What makes it sound so unique, it is an acoustic guitar played aggressively in a style, normally suited to an electric guitar with lots of distortion. The symphonic overtones over the stop and go guitar riffs matched with the multi-layer vocals makes this one of the best songs on the entire disc. The Part Of Them In Me is the longest track at just under ten minutes, and starts with soft piano, and eventually just gets heavier and more complex. The vocals again, are shared between the two leads, and Olmi's performance on this song, shows the top of her range, which works in tandem with LeFebrve's vocals in a point/counterpoint kind of way. Unknown Kadath works much in a way like an interlude connecting the track before and after it. Seeds Of Decay sees the return of the acoustic guitars, along with some well played piano, synth and piano leads. There are some vocal lines I didn't care for in this song, but that is more of a nitpick than actual criticism.

The second half of the disc finds itself starting with just Olmi's vocals and a clean guitar tone. The song, When The Stars Come Right, much like the one that follows it, Crawling Chaos, follows the pattern of being more mid tempo with some faster parts thrown in. The first one has one of the best guitar solos on the entire disc, huge and melodic and does not overstay its welcome. The latter having a very strong chorus, guitar work, and vocal work from both singers. Snake's Den features the guest vocals of Edu Falaschi(ex-Angra,Almah). His unique vocal tone brings another element to the song. Another melodic mid paced song, with some great aggressive guitar playing. All three singers get involved at one point, and kudos to the producer/engineer for making it all sound fantastic. Lost In Time and Space's intro definitely gives you that unearthly feel, that you are going/or lost to another place. A dark and moody song with a pretty cool groove to in parts. Much like the other songs, it does not stick to one melody or riff very long ago, and can be a bit chaotic yet coherent. Fuoco is one of the coolest instrumentalists I heard in a long time, and if the band needed one song to show their instrumental chops, this is definitely the one. The spanish-flamenco style acoustic playing, layered with the leads guitars, and everything else going on is really an incredible piece of music. So the story ends with Credits, the song not the things you see when a movie is over. A hugely symphonic song, with some great bass playing(finger-picking and slap-bass) and one of the best chorus's on the entire disc.

I should also mention that all the narration on the disc was done by Ayreon mastermind, Arjen Lucassen. All the adjectives I used to describe this disc, it is hard to find a way to sum this up. It is definitely a captivating listen, that will take your imagination to a new place. This is NOT a disc you listen to it, if you don't have the time to absorb it as a whole. For some this won't be an easy listen, because of its length, but for those who make the journey, this will be one of the better listening experiences you have heard all year. If you enjoy symphonic, progressive, and power metal, this easily could be the disc you never knew you wanted.
Check out some samples of the band, on Youtube
Killing Songs :
Conceptually all good, but Silver Twilight Lodge, When The Stars Come Right, Crawling Chaos, Snake's Den, Credits
Joel quoted 87 / 100
Other albums by Anthropia that we have reviewed:
Anthropia - The Chain Reaction reviewed by Goat and quoted 80 / 100
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