Band: Metro Society
Band Website: www.myspace.com/metrosociety
Label: Independent Release
Release Date: 2007
It’s always a pleasure to be contacted out of the blue by independent bands or artists working within
the progressive rock genre. The other day I received an email regarding a band called the Metro Society and a few days later received
their first independent CD release entitled A Journey in Paris. It’s an intriguing story which according to the liner notes goes like
this… “Deep under the streets of
The Metro Society consists of five members: Chris Mangold (guitars, keyboards, spoken word), Ian Ringler (bass,
keyboards), Doug Brown (drums), Bill Mangold (drums on track 6) and Corey Brown (vocals). Musically the Metro Society falls into the
prog-metal category, but as with all musical forms it’s what they do with the individual elements of the music that helps make their
style unique. Certainly the fact that two members provide some keyboard support lends their music a wider expanse at certain points.
A Journey in Paris features nine tracks, many of them on the longish side and the disc closes with an 18-minute epic. The whole
things starts off with some sound effects taken from perhaps an airport that I’m guessing is meant to be our introduction to going
underground. Track one “King of his own World” (9:26) gets things off to a rousing start with a Dream Theater like composition. Brown’s
vocals while not technically sounding like James Labrie, maintains a similar style and approach. It isn’t until track 3 “Welcome Home”
(7:42) where we start to see a more subdued approach from the band incorporated into the compositions. I won’t say softer because
there is still very much an intensity that runs through even the quieter passages on this disc. Then it’s on track 4 “Hills Will Role”
(9:57) where the keyboards start to have some sonic impact on the compositions. The track opens with some spacious guitar strumming
before slipping into a tentative series of building arpeggios. In fact the deeper one goes into this disc, the more interesting and
varied the music becomes. Trying to describe any of these pieces is challenging in that they all slip and slide through any number
of time and tempo changes, starts and stops, mood adjustments and so on. As one listens there are other influences that seem to come
and go, there’s a bit of Rush every so often, some Queensryche, a little more Dream Theater and to my ears a bit of bands like Ricochet.
When you put it all together you have the Metro Society.
The Metro Society has assimilated all these and many more influences
to craft a sound that isn’t just guitar crunch and double-kick drums. Their compositions display more than the usual amount of variety,
while still holding true to the prog-metal musical genre. For a first time effort this is quite an accomplishment and should offer
fans of this style something of great interest. Kudos to the Metro Society, a young band that has chosen to defy the mainstream and
have come up with a wonderful release. A Journey in Paris deserves to be heard. This is a band to watch.