Band: Metaphor

CD Title: “The Sparrow”

Label: Trope Audio Music - Independent Release

Release Date: 2007

I’m not sure how much it holds true anymore, but there used to be a kind of unspoken rule that a band’s third release was going to be the one to make or break them. I say not true anymore because many progressive rock bands work without the supposed “safety-net” of a major label these days and therefore tend to release music when they’re ready, able or can afford it. This takes a tremendous load off the creative process. And that’s evidently clear with the third release by theSan Francisco area quintet Metaphor entitled The Sparrow. What is also clear from the opening notes is that the band has really developed their own sound. But that’s also where it gets tricky.

The promo that came with the CD identifies The Sparrow as a Sci-fi Rock Opera, a concept album about space travel, religion, and a profound change in the protagonist’s perspective. I’ll leave you to work out the details when you pick up the disc, because if you liked the sound of Metaphor before, you’ll love what they do here. When I mentioned the tricky nature of the band’s sound, it’s simply because of the difficulty in describing what these guys do. When I first put it on, I immediately identified the band, mostly due to the vocal style, but more by the way the vocals interplay with the staccato nature of the guitar, bass and drums while the organ/synth keyboard blend injects its own unique counterpoint. Once you hear it, you recognize the band’s individual style. It’s a sound that has faint roots structurally in Wind and Wuthering era Genesis, and the Power and the Glory era Gentle Giant, both now clearly molded into Metaphor’s own style. The Sparrow features 14 tracks with the longest being 11:46, a few in the six-eight minute range with a few others that connect the story elements together are as short as 1:50. Compositionally the music of Metaphor loves to mix up its rhythms, allowing for keyboards and guitars to each go their own way for parts of the songs. They’re also not afraid to inject a certain minor chording, almost dissonant tones at points, all the while bringing it back to swelling major chord melodies. Just like the lyrics, the music is created to help convey the moods and events of the story. Where the story is tense, so is the music, where the story is moving, so is the music, and so on. Like any good story, here the music has its ups and downs. It has soft introspective moments and huge choral anthems, each doing its part to move the story along.

I have the two previous Metaphor discs and I have to admit to being a real fan of their music. This is a band that’s not afraid to tackle the big subjects lyrically and musically they’ve really developed into their own particular style which is on fine display with The Sparrow. In fact this third release captures their sound sound-style perfectly. Fans of their previous releases will love what the band has produced here but this would also be a perfect starting point for newcomers. The Sparrow is an accomplished release and hopefully will help expose Metaphor to the larger audience they deserve.