Antiquus – Eleutheria

By Mike Maher

Progressive metal band Antiquus is from Vancouver, British Columbia. Eleutheria is their sophomore release, and the band has signed with Italy’s Cruz del Sur Music.

Their first album, Ramanaya, had rave reviews (according to their website anyway!)The majority of Eleutheria is a concept. The captain of a ship called the Mercy Childe is at sea exploring when the ship’s pilot disappears. Fearing that they will not survive the voyage without the pilot, the crew mutinies and puts the captain away in a small boat. The story goes from there. The final two songs on the album are stand alone. Immediately apparent – These guys are excellent musicians. Any fans of guitar driven songs and acoustic guitar interludes will enjoy this album a lot. The singer, Jesse White, has a high voice which reminds me of Nils K. Rue’s work on the first Pagan’s Mind album, Infinity Divine. He takes a little getting used to, but has a great voice and it fits the music well. At first listen, I thought the lyrics were kind of lackluster but I am sure it’s pretty difficult to write an album with several songs following a storyline and keep it lyrically slick. After another few spins though, I found that I was drawn into the story. The music is solid and any progressive metal fan should enjoy it. The guitars are particularly outstanding.

Stand out songs: “Eleutheria”, “Redemption” , “KT Event”

Antiquus’ myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/antiquus