Nightmare Records/Border
Modern prog/power metal characterized by technical ability, a fervency for volume and a passion for power. That´s what the info sheet states about Canadian band CONFLICTED. The band consists of four-octave vocalist Jason Orton, the neoclassical inclined guitarist Mark Owen, the symphonic keyboardist Ron DeCoste, metal bass man John Kolodziej and experienced drummer Corey Stoll. They have two EPS under their belt, plus a couple of Canadian awards. They must be doing something right being signed to Lance King´s Nightmare Records.
“After Too Long” takes off with some cozy bass lines before Jason takes charge. The voice is slightly distorted and their progressive aspirations are clearly audible. Modern touches meet older styles as in e.g. HADES and John´s bass style suits me. The final keyboard patterns make me remember TONY CAREY for some reason. What generally bother me are the often distorted vocal parts. If you have a voice like Jason´s there is no need for that little nuisance. There are also a high ranking guitarist, a playful bassist and a ditto keyboard player. They manage to vary a lot, and make good use of most styles like heavy metal/power/nearly thrash/prog/technical, even some vague Oriental tendencies. Little glimpses of everything from RUSH to RAINBOW, via more modern additions meet with CONFLICTED `s own qualities. Musically they can measure up to most bands, oddly enough I´ve never heard of them prior to this. Maybe things would have been different had they been an American band? But they can probably make up for that with backing from Nightmare/Sony. I´d be sorry to see them do “a Canadian” like KILLER DWARFS, SANTERS and/or TRIUMPH, and become world famous in Canada exclusively…
Track List
After Too Long
Never Be Tamed
Victor(ia)
Fallen
The Hand of God
Stay
Heat Me Up
I Wish. I Remember
Alive
Torment
Release
www.nightmarerecords.com www.myspace.com/conflictedcanada
