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Creation's End: Metaphysical
Creation's End Metaphysical CD Album Review

Creation's End: Metaphysical

Progressive Metal
4.0/5.0

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Pure Prog Records
Words: Craig Hartranft    Added: 14.08.2014

I was beginning to wonder if Creation's End was going to be another one of those 'one-off' projects. Would 2010's A New Beginning, a rather impressive album, simply be the band's fireworks shot screaming bright into the night, only to fade out and never be seen again. Did founders Rudolph Albert (g) and Dario Rodriguez (d) only have those reworkings of demos and nothing more? Apparently not.

Creation's End Metaphysical Photo

Creation's End: in the streets.

We simply had to be patient. Metaphysical finds the band in terrific form with a nice collection of progressive metal, possibly even on the heavier side. I say this because the riffs of Albert and Marco Sfogli seem sharper and more bombastic than ever. And it appears there are no lengths or depths that guitar pistolero Sfogli can go to thrill your ears. By example, the leads in Part Of You seem both deliberate and ceaseless. He goes bat shit crazy on that fret board. Then throw in the fact that there's some sweet melody to the song and a catchy refrain, and this primo stuff.

Now take Surrendered, a seemingly slow burning anthem led by churning riffs and Mike DiMeo's passionate, nearly raw, vocals, but significantly pumped up in moments by larger riffs, big drums, and those ever present ripping leads. It's a kind of song that both quiets the arena, then tears it down. Alternatively, some songs seem in the grip of heaviness like This Heart, All I Have, and Turn Away apparently trapped by massive riffage. If not for some keyboard tempering the atmosphere and Sfogli' lighting up the night, the songs would cave in on their weight. While these songs are fine, I found the ones where the heaviness is more subdued to be more interesting, like Surrendered above, but also Constructing a Savior and Singularity, which come at the end. The former draws down on the heaviness at the start without dismissing the fervor, allowing the lead guitar to crank it up in the end. The latter, is nearly in stark contrast to the rest of the album with voice and acoustic guitar leading to a gentle crescendo and, as you would guess, another terrific Sfogli solo.

Which leads me to say that Metaphysical and the band is overshadowed by Sfogli's guitar work; essantially, he's putting on a clinic for aspiring guitarists, for all of us for that matter. Alongside this, the other dominant element is DiMeo's vocals which never seem to waver from a passionate, even soulful, delivery. Put this together with the heaviness of the album, there's an overarching weight, almost melancholy moodiness to it not unlike an Evergrey album. None of these things are bad things, merely observations, though I think I'm fonder of the first album.


Creation's End - Bivariate


Creation's End - Push



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In Short

Metaphysical finds Creation's End's progressive metal a bit weightier, darker, and melancholy while, at the same time, being a showcase for guitar virtuoso Marc Sfogli's massive skills.

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