{"id":28372,"date":"2013-03-21T06:47:32","date_gmt":"2013-03-21T11:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=28372"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:34:09","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:34:09","slug":"the-great-gamble-book-i-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/the-great-gamble-book-i-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Gamble | Book I<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– News Editor \/ Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"GreatHere\u2019s another independently-released album that snuck by us in 2012 but has been getting plenty of repeated listens in 2013. Book I is the debut album from The Great Gamble, a progressive metal band out of Scranton, PA, who, like The Reticent, Fallen Martyr and The Deadstation, is pushing the boundaries of the genre and delivering music that\u2019s more than up to the quality level of the big names in the scene.<\/p>\n

With Book I<\/em>, The Great Gamble seems to capture the very best elements of the progressive metal genre, both classic and modern. The first impression you\u2019re likely to get is Dream Theater fronted by Doug Pinnick of King\u2019s X, thanks in large part to Al Joseph\u2019s deep, soulful vocals. It doesn\u2019t take long to realize that there\u2019s a lot more going on in The Great Gamble\u2019s sound. There are moments on Book I<\/em> when you hear Shadow Gallery and Symphony X, and moments when a more modern Coheed and Cambria vibe comes through.<\/p>\n

There are six songs on Book I<\/em>, and nearly all of them hit the 10-minute mark, with one \u2013 album closer \u201cThe Sleepwalker Pt. 1 \u2013 Tears of Dagon\u201d \u2013 hitting sixteen minutes. As you might expect, the long songs mean plenty of chances for the band to show off their considerable technical chops. That comes in the form of some intricate guitar work, complex rhythms and even some remarkable violin solos. The obvious risk for any progressively-minded band is that the overall song can get lost in all that instrumental excess, but for the most part The Great Gamble avoids that here. There are a couple of moments when the songs seem a minute or two too long, but by and large this is an album that you can get lost in, and one with a great flow from song to song.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth mentioning that The Great Gamble is a Christian band, and their lyrics reflect that if you stop to really take them in. They\u2019re not preachy or over the top with them; it\u2019s more on a conceptual level, and is not likely to interfere with your enjoyment of Book I if you don\u2019t happen to share the band\u2019s faith.<\/p>\n

Book I<\/em> is a very strong debut from one of the most promising young progressive bands America has to offer. With a start this strong, it\u2019s hard to imagine The Great Gamble remaining unsigned for much longer. If you\u2019re a fan of progressive metal in any of its many forms, do yourself a favor and check out The Great Gamble. You have nothing at all to lose, since you can use the link below to download Book I for free directly from the band.<\/p>\n

Genre: Progressive Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nChristopher David (b)(v)
\nSteve Michael (d)
\nMatt Weaver (violins)(v)
\nAl Joseph (v)(g)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tRelease the Kraken
\n2.\tThe Marketplace
\n3.\tLegends of the Symmetria
\n4.\tThe Ghost of Three Reflections
\n5.\tBreach at Fort Mycenae
\n6.\tThe Sleepwalker Pt. 1 \u2013 Tears of Dagon<\/p>\n

Website: www.thegreatgamble.bandcamp.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.75\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – News Editor \/ Senior Columnist — Here\u2019s another independently-released album that snuck by us in 2012 but has been getting plenty of repeated listens in 2013. Book I is the debut […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,1098,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-28372","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2013","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-progressive-metal","9":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28372\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}