Description

Italian prog metal act Zen was founded in Rome, Italy in 1994 but it took some time before they finally found their sound something that happened when they changed bass player and vocalist. The improved group released their first demo ‘Voyages’ in 1996. This demo got the band a record deal with the Music Is Intelligence/WMMS record label and they released their first full length album ‘Gaze Into the Light’ in 1997 and album that should please any fan of progressive heavy metal. Sure, you can call them Dream Theatre clones, you can say that they are too influenced by DT, or that the singer sounds too much like LaBrie but when music is played this good, you can only comment on how good this band is, and you'll quickly forget about their influences once you hear how good they are. It never mattered to me personally what a band sounded like, as long as they do it well, and this band does it magnificently. If you love symphonic prog metal then this is one of the hottest discs to come out in 1997. If you like keyboard driven prog metal then this will more than satisfy your appetite. If you like Italian prog metal in general, then this is absolutely essential. The best part of hearing new prog metal music, is when you have never heard of a band before, and suddenly a disc like this ends up in your player. ‘Gaze Into The Light’ has to be heard. Zen has arrived. Track listing: 1. The New Sunrise 2. Gaze Into The Light 3. Water Can Cover The Next 4. Divine 5. Tales From The Deep 6. 137.999/Welcome To Zuffenhausen 7. Invisible Horizon 8. Aphasia