Aspera Ripples
by Derric Miller
Staff Writer
If it wasn’t for Europe, the entire Metal genre would be one boring arena. While America recycles Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage and Avenged Sevenfold clones, Europe instead gives us bands like Norway’s Aspera. This Progressive/Power Metal unit is rapidly gaining critical acclaim and a global fan base simply because although they wear their influences, they didn’t go to the recombinant DNA lengths an American band would to emulate their heroes, and therefore offer a fresh spin on everything that made them musicians in the first place.
One thing Aspera didn’t need to do is begin their debut Ripples with an intro, subtly titled “Intro.” Once you skip that brief track, you hit the title song. “Ripples” is a keyboard/synthesizer weighty composition that is also Metal as hell. If you remember the unheralded band Digital Ruin, Aspera has that same ability to write something as heavy as the gravitational pull from a black hole while maintaining a sense of melody, largely due to superior vocals from Atle Pettersen. You may be reminded of a band like Beyond Twilight as well, considering the intricacy of the music.
“Do I Dare?” is Aspera blending AOR tendencies with their formula of bombastic rhythms and uber-melodic vocals. Pettersen actually sounds like he is singing an ‘80s pop track in sections of the song, but of course, once his vocals start soaring, he brings it back into the Metal fold, as flexible as someone like James LaBrie. The otherworldly keys during the chorus dilute the bombast of the music behind the verses, and guitarist Robin Ognedal plays a complex but not overly heated solo that flows into the rest of the song. This is probably the first track you’ll find yourself singing along with again and again.
By the time you hit “Catatonic Coma,” you will want to hear Aspera try something different, and they sure as hell do on this song. At the onset, you aren’t sure if it’s going to be an instrumental, or some eerie, horror film piece, but then it slows down to a dirge, with Pettersen singing with a bit of an echo-y affect on his vocals. The chorus is sheer gold, and again, you may be thinking of Dream Theater at times, but only that it’s something that Dream Theater COULD write, not something they already HAVE written. There’s an astronomical difference there …
“Torn Apart” is another stellar track on Ripples. This song is more atmospheric, a little dreamier, with simple keys buoyed by synthesizers, blending together. Their ability to change tempos so succinctly during the track, and to keep it cohesive, should impress any listener.
The only real ballad is “Reflection,” a two-minute composition that is acoustic guitar and keys at the start. While not really a complete song, it’s a mellow lead in to “The Purpose,” the complex and multi-faceted closer.
Aspera’s Ripples is just another check in the column confirming that Europe creates better new music more often than the good ol’ US of A. Your favorite new Black/Symphonic/Gothic/Power/Progressive/Glam band probably comes from Europe, but don’t worry—if Aspera gets as popular as they should based on their debut album, a few hundred American bands will copy their sound note for note and pretend that they are true musicians, too.
Label: InsideOut Music
Track listing:
1. Intro
2. Ripples
3. Do I Dare?
4. Remorse
5. Between Black & White
6. Catatonic Coma
7. Torn Apart
8. Traces Inside
9. Reflections
10. The Purpose
Hardrock Haven rating: 8.1/10