• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

February 2025

• Craig Brooks: Desolation Freeway
• Mantric Momentum: Alienized
• Pattern-Seeking Animals: Friend Of All Creatures
• Crazy Lixx: Thrill Of The Bite
• Ginger Evil: The Way It Burns
• Dream Theater: Parasomnia
• Tyran: Tyran's Oath
• Saber: Lost In Flames

January 2025

• Wildness: Avenger
• The Ferrymen: Iron Will
• Labyrinth: In The Vanishing Echoes Of Goodbye
• Bonfire: Higher Ground
• The Big Deal: Electrified
• Landfall: Wide Open Sky

December 2024

• After Lapse: Pathways
• Illusion Force: Halfana
• Powell-Payne: Voilá

November 2024

• Sunstorm: Restless Fight
• Storace: Crossfire
• Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
• Lionville: Supernatural
• Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
• Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
• Lonerider: Down In The Dust
• Seventh Crystal: Entity
• Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
• Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
• Impellitteri: War Machine
• Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter

October 2024

• Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
• DGM: Endless
• Daytona: Garder la Flamme
• Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
• Frost*: Life In The Wires
• Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
• Fans Of The Dark: Video
• Radioactive: Reset
• House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
• Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire

[ More Music Reviews ]

While Heaven Wept: Fear of Infinity

Heavy Metal

3.5/5.0

Nuclear Blast
Website Facebook Twitter MySpace
by Craig Hartranft,  04.18.2011

Tom Phillips (ex-Solstice, ex-Twisted Tower Dire, ex-Brave) put his project While Heaven Wept (WHW) on the map when he expanded its musical depth. With Of Empires Forlorn, but more so with the highly acclaimed Vast Oceans Lachrymose, Phillips moved the band from its early doom roots to more classic heavy metal with a progressive and epic atmosphere. This movement continues on this year's Fear of Infinity.

Fear of Infinity seems a tale of discs. It begins with very bombastic melodic, sometimes power, metal on Hour of Reprisal, Destroyer of Solace, and Obsessions Now Effigies. Even with several listens, these songs are a blur. They are so similar they near redundancy. Actually, with a few more layers of keyboards and dirty vocals, these songs could pass for Swedish melodic death metal akin to Dimmu Borgir.

With acoustic Unplenitude the tide turns. To Grieve Forever and Saturn and Sacrifice find WHH revisiting their doom roots, blending and blurring it with epic melodic and classic metal. Fear of Infinity culminates with grand track Finality. Some of the influences from the first part of this disc recur, but only in moments of accent. Largely, Finality is that aforementioned ambitious blend of epic and melodic heavy metal with the sometime pacing of doom metal. It's Tom Phillips and While Heaven Wept at their best.

While still being a bit confounded by the contrast of the first third of the album with the latter, Fear of Infinity is emotional and entertaining. Is it as good or significant as Vast Oceans Lachrymose? I'll politely reserve my judgment for another time. Otherwise, fans and newbies should dig While Heaven Wept's Fear of Infinity. Very recommended.

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

While Heaven Wept's Fear of Infinity is epic, emotional, and entertaining. Is it as good or significant as Vast Oceans Lachrymose? I'll politely reserve my judgment for another time.

Alphabetical Index

By now it's old news. Everybody in the prog universe knows: Dream Theater got the band back together. Drummer and founding member Mike Portnoy returned to his Dream Theater family to celebrate their 40th ... [ Read More ]