Driven By Fate CD Fan Review #2:

Driven By Fate:
1. Discretion Rising - Awesome, ominously mysterious intro. If you’re going to grab my attention this is one of the two best ways to do it (the second being an all out, jump-right-into-it approach a la Symphony X)

2. D2C - Very catchy and melodic, while rocking at the same time. Nice little transition there at about the 3 minute mark followed by some good gee-tar work.

3. Shadow Dust - The riffs in this songs are righteous. I think this is my favorite musically arranged song, riff-wise. At about 5:00 (after the scream), it really reminded me of something that could’ve come right off of Killing Is My Business.

4. Surreal Contemplations - A great transitional instrumental, with a great heavy background accompanied by perfectly placed acoustics, the electric guitar solo and orchestration.

5. Utopian Rust - Matt does his best job in the vocals on this one. Therefore, that combined with the music itself, on a whole, makes this the best track. The final solo is pretty sweet. Yes, I guess this is my favorite track.

H3:
6. His Dark Materials - Very classic heavy-metalish.

7. Holdin’ the Line - I didn’t see how this song really fit in with the rest of the album. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a good song, but it just seems a bit misplaced lyrically.

8. Homecoming - Nice heavy song with some awesome riffing and drumming.

Paradise Lost:
9. Ch1. (The Fall) - Yes! Great subject on which to base an epic song. Great orchestral and ambience accompaniment.

10. Ch2. (Hell’s Counsel) - Dark, brooding instrumental that is very appropriate to the title and to the overall story.

11. Ch3. (Burden of Heaven) - Good song, yes, again.

12. Ch4. (The Garden) - Yet another instrumental. A good solemn and serene conclusion to the epic.

Bonus:
13. The Fall (instrumental) - Strange, I always thought more bands should do instrumental versions of their songs.

14. Esoterica - Another good instrumental with some nice speed parts. Great metal instrumental.


I think the vox need a little help for the most part, but that doesn’t take away from how good the album is. It took a listen or two to get used to it. Lyrically I can’t complain. Very mysterious and creative, just how I like it. Musically, Odin's Court are very talented and coordinate the songs really good. Theme-wise I really like the whole supernatural theme in many of the songs as that has always fascinated me and has been the subject of many of my personal studies. Paradise Lost? Oh yeah. If I had to pick my three favorite songs, I’d say: 1. Utopian Rust. 2. Homecoming. 3. Hell’s Counsel.

James - New Jersey