Zero Hour - A Fragile Mind

2005 Album Award

Country: USA      Genre: Progressive Metal, Technical Metal

I was pensive when I heard the track that lasercd had released for this album, “”There for Me.”” The song sounded completely contrived. Done… I had heard it already and was bored to tears with it. The new singer didn’t sound that great on it and I wanted something else, not a track with a great riff and an ‘insert solo here.’ When I got to Progpower I bought the album and I had the chance to sit down with it and give it a good listen.

To sum up the album in one sentence; shades of brilliance surrounded by a sea of mediocrity. Don’t get me wrong though, Zero Hour’s version of mediocre is much more potent than most other bands!

I’m not going to talk about each song because anyone who already listens to Zero Hour knows what to expect. There is a formula at work with the Tipton brothers that will forever define the Zero Hour sound.

The great parts of this album come in the form of the last track. I feel that the instrumental that closes this album, “”Intrinsic,”” is a breath of fresh air on an album wrought with borrowing. It’s nice to hear a song that is so chill yet so moody and contemplative. This song is perfect but not indicative of the Zero Hour sound, which may be why I like it so much. It’s an outside of the box song.

While this CD did grow on me, it still doesn’t have the staying power that Towers of Avarice had. The new singer reminds me of a weaker version of Erik mixed with Fab Gallen from Vauxdvihl fame. While the focus of most technical metal bands is on the instrumentation, when your vocalist is as powerful as Erik, it’s hard to miss him. This album sorely misses his ability and character.

If you already like Zero Hour and just want more of the same, this album is probably for you. If you’re tired of them going back to well I suggest looking somewhere else as this album does not step beyond the very safe boundaries of their first two discs.

For Fans of: Vauxdvihl, Spiral Architect, Cynic

 Album Score: 6 out of 10
Reviewed by: Ray Pine

My friend, and fellow reviewer, Ray Pine, turned me onto Zero Hour soon after the release of The Towers of Avarice. I was blown away. A progressive metal band with balls who didn't sound like Dream Theater. The album was very heavy, very technical, and very cold. Zero Hour had made a unique sound for themselves and raised the bar for the progressive metal genre. It has been about 4 years since their last studio release. The fans, including me, were waiting anxiously for another dose of Zero Hour's technical assault. With a lot of drama, loss of a singer, and other personal difficulties Zero Hour finally released their much anticipated 3rd release, A Fragile Mind.

The overall sound of the album is much on the lines of The Towers of Avarice. It is dark and it is technical. The only main difference is that there is more melody and it has a warmer feel to it. It isn't as pissed off as Towers was. That sounds all well and good, but it feels like this album is missing something. The thing it is missing is new ideas. The album sounds like a lot of rehashed riffs from the Towers and Death Machine sessions. It also sounds like there is a certain amount of energy and intensity missing. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those fans who is pissed off because Zero Hour didn't recreate Towers. If anything it just sounds a lesser version of Towers with a few modifications here and there. It is nothing I haven't heard from these guys on their other releases and projects before. What made Towers such an amazing album is the fact that it was something the progressive metal world hasn't been exposed to. It was exciting to see a band with that much aggression and technique. This album just sounds rather stale and drags in some places.

A lot of fans may place the blame on their new singer, Fred Marshall. To be honest, I think he does a good job on this album. He fits in with their sound rather well. His style is very similar to Erik's which makes it rather easy to adjust. His vocal lines aren't anything special, but he works with the overall direction.

The album starts with a six second intro, which really doesn't do anything. It seems like dead time to me, but it really isn't that big of a deal. After the intro, "There for me" kicks in. It is a rather heavy and catchy tune. It is not as technical as their other stuff, minus the middle section which sounds rather out of place and forced. With that said, it is a pretty solid track and a pretty cool opener. It sets the tone for the direction of the new CD.

"Destiny is Sorrow" follows. This is a pretty trademark Zero Hour song. It has a heavy and technical beginning. A lot of the riffs in this sound like rehashed Towers riffs, especially at 2:55 where it sounds like the same hypnotic rhythm used in the title track, "The Towers of Avarice". The song then has a dynamic change and goes into a quiet middle section. I feel more could have been done here vocally. After that it goes to a kind of uplifting conclusion. The song has some good moments, but overall drags in certain places and offers nothing new to the Zero Hour sound.

The album picks up in an aggressive manner with "Brain Surgery". This song sounds pretty pissed off. It is heavy and technical and has a cool Cynic sounding middle section, but like I mentioned before it offers nothing we haven't heard already on Towers.

The album then changes pace with "Losing Control". It is a pretty mellow song with some nice moody vocals. It has its moments, but feels like it is lacking in certain places.

"Twice the Pain" is one of the few real stand out tracks on this album. Mainly because it doesn't sound like something Zero Hour has done before. It has some cool melodies and I like the effects on the vocals. It is a pretty moody piece with some nice atmospheres. It is one of the darker songs on the album.

We are now greeted with one of the two instrumentals on this album, "Somnecrophobia". The instrumental is rather heavy and sounds like b-sides from the Death Machine sessions. It is a cool listen, but I don't really see myself listening to this track more than a handful of times.

Next, we have the title track. I was looking forward to this song the most because it is the epic. On every album, Zero Hour epics have always been the highlights. "Demise and Vestige" could be one of my favorite songs of all time. Now I am not comparing this to "Demise and Vestige" or "Metamorphosis" because "A Fragile Mind" is a different kind of song. It has some cool moments. I really love the riff that comes in at around 5:35 and the section that follows. It has a real heavy Cynic feel to it, but as a whole though it seems to drag on too long. It should not have been 12 minutes. I don't think there is enough solid material to make it that long. Like I mentioned earlier it is a different kind of epic. Unlike "Demise" and "Metamorphosis", this epic is more atmospheric than rockin.

Lastly, "Intrinsic" closes the album. In my opinion, "Intrinsic" is the best song. It sounds like nothing Zero Hour has done before. It is a real cinematic and moody instrumental which features some awesome bass playing from Troy and some nice atmospheric keyboards from Jasun. It reminds me of something Jasun would have used on his Seduction project.

Now don't get me wrong, the album is not as bad as I may have made it seem. I just ripped it apart that way because I had such high expectations for this CD and it didn't really live up to them. I guess you can call it tough love. The album does have some solid moments and is not a total waste, it is just nothing groundbreaking or really "new". I am sure Zero Hour fans will find things on it that they will enjoy, but if you haven't heard Zero Hour before I would suggest you try Towers first. I hope that they pick up the originality and energy on their next release.

 Album Score: 7 out of 10
Reviewed by: Jake Rosenberg

Has it been worth the wait? Definitely. This is an album which will please fans of the debut, fans of The Towers of Avarice and draw new fans. Marshall is not a radical departure from Rosvald but he does add a sense of darkness to A Fragile Mind. On songs like "There for Me" and "Destiny is Sorrow" he even reminds me of Layne Staley (Alice In Chains) while providing a haunting vibe to Zero Hour's progressive metal sound. Both songs are crushing rhythmically and Jasun Tipton has a mind bending shredding solo on the former. The latter sees Zero Hour adding some quiet, psychedelic parts. Songs like "Brain Surgery" and "Twice the Pain" are heavy and direct but this band still has a progressive minded presence as evidenced by the lengthy title track. "A Fragile Mind" starts mellow, not unlike classic Fates Warning and builds with equal parts heaviness and progressive. I'm usually not a fan of instrumentals but closing track "Intrinsic" has a dreamy, surreal quality which is an appropriate ending to this intense but throught provoking album.

A Fragile Mind is one of the best albums I've heard in some time. Zero Hour are one of the very few progressive metal bands to venture into styles this dark and this heavy and precise. This is a bridge uniting styles familiar to fans of Dream Theater, Meshuggah, and Alice In Chains; but Zero Hour have their own sound and this album should catapult them to the elite.

 Album Score: 9.5 out of 10
Reviewed by: Brett VanPut