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Major Denial: Minor Ways EP

Heavy/Progressive Metal

3.0/5.0

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Unsigned / Self-released
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 08.01.2015

Here's a new band from Greece, Major Denial, formed in 2013 by two guitarists, Nektarios Ntagkas and Achilleas Diamantis. They give us a first taste of their musical expression with a short four song EP, Minor Ways. In support the have three different vocalists on the album including Yannis Papadopoulos from Wardrum. Of greater interest perhaps is having ex-Fates Warning drummer Mark Zonder behind the kit.

The larger context of their music is melodic heavy metal, with some lightly technical elements that would allow some to add progressive metal to the description. Being composed by guitarists, you can expect the songs to be riff driven with generous solos. That's basically the case, but somebody also got their hands on a piano. There some nice piano lines in both Never Neverland and No Sunrise. At first, the vocals seem somewhat uneven. Whomever got the duty on Never Neverland get screechy and screamo in the latter half on the song. The vocals on A Man and I Am The Shadow are much better.

Speaking to the songs in general, after several spins I'm still left ambivalent to what I heard. There's some nice riffs and cool solos within, but mostly I found the songs to be heavy and plodding. It's almost as if the players were more concerned with accurate execution than anything else. The second feeling I got, with the heaviness, is that the songs were dark, nearly depressing. No Sunrise, with it's solemn piano and acoustic guitar, is especially mournful. Essentially, in the end, I lost interest in what I heard within Minor Ways. I certainly don't think I could listen to a full album of this material. But give Ntagkas and Diamantis credit for their creativity and effort. Listen to the video below; you might have a different opinion.

MAJOR DENIAL - Never Neverland (OFFICIAL Lyric Video)

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Major Denial's Minor Ways, with it's heaviness and brooding character, left me largely ambivalent, and finally uninterested in their progressive metal.

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eviewing my archives, I was pleased to find that I have had the privilege to review every Lionville since their self-titled debut in 2011. Formed by Stefano Lionetti, a songwriter, singer and guitarist based in ... [ Read More ]