THE LAST VOID - review added 25th June 2010
Album Review: State Of Mind (2010)
For fans of: Progressive Rock... and epicness
The Last Void - Adriana Muñoz on vocals, Alberto Cartín and Mauricio Madrigal both on guitar and vocals, Brian Torres on bass, and Felipe Cartín on drums - hail from Heredia in Costa Rica. They formed in 2004, although the band has taken until the present day to complete the line-up; with Brian Torres only being recruited after the record was finished. Max Esquivel and Andres Cordero played bass on State Of Mind.
The sound is a change from the usual female fronted melodic metal vibe, featuring a strong vein of progression and plenty of relatively unique angles like jazz, ambient chillout and folk. Whilst Adriana's voice doesn't quite reach the dizzying heights of 'outstanding', she does lend the album a character and air of class a lesser vocalist couldn't muster.
The musicianship is all more than ample, perhaps a little unadventurous in places, but overall it's warm and inviting and creates a good ambience. Few of the songs are exceptional, and the album as a whole really does beg for one monster track to make it all worthwhile. In the end it's all a tad epically predictable - brilliant and boring at once.
State Of Mind is a fine, well performed, if underwhelming album. I'd certainly, however, recommend it for people who fancy the rare treat of female fronted prog.
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Track List:
01. Pain Part 1: Frustration
02. Kindergarden Stuff
03. Metal Mind
04. Icarus
05. M.A.F.A. Interlude
06. Rebirth
07. Survive
08. Illusion
09. Shadow
10. Pain Part 2: Revolution
Artist's website(s): The Last Void | MySpace | Facebook
