Perpetuate Self Titled EP - Classic and Highly Underrated

Perpetuate is relatively little known band hailing from Canada, who play in a progressive style, with glimmers of power metal and Gothic metal, and I had the pleasure of stumbling upon this band while me and a friend were searching for new and interesting metal releases. Upon first listen I knew this would be something special, and something that I would be coming back to time and time again.

This album is truly a refreshing experience, it's the sound of a band that loves to play, and the energy they bring to the table is absolutely astounding. That is the main thing I love about this release is every song exudes emotion and raw passion for music, Something that many big name bands tend to lose with time.

The sound here is a pretty much very Maiden-inspired prog metal, with glimmers of the gothic style on occasion. Think soaring riffs, galloping bass at times, bombastic drum beats, and blistering solos, all of these are to be found in this 6 track EP. The keyboards accentuate the atmosphere of the album very well. They vocalist/keyboardist Kim McInnis is very competent at what she does, the vocals are high energy operatic style vocals that are very appropriately placed in the production, not overpowering the music, but not buried beneath the guitars to where you can't hear them. The bass is not as high in the mix as I'd like but its very well done, and as I stated before the guitars are very very well done. The riffs are power metal inspired and at times very complex and progressive. The solos on this are very well written and very much what you would expect from a prog metal band.

My favorite track on here is Medusa, its orchestral, and very dark, but it has an atmosphere that I love. The lyrics are very well written and the structure of the song weaves along with the story. I love the soft part right before a build-up to an explosive climax, and it leads right into their tribute to Iron Maiden in the form a cover of The Trooper. This is an extremely well done cover and an appropriate end to a stellar effort

All in all I feel that this is a strong contender for album of the year, its a high energy slab of proggy power and gothic metal that will keep any fan of prog and Iron Maiden. On a final note I feel that this band really deserves more exposure. This is a fantastic release and I look forward to hearing more from this band.

96/100