Fates Warning may be on ice and their imminent return is far from likely but both Jim Matheos and Ray Alder remain productive releasing quality work under the umbrella of various projects or solo albums. So, the Fates singer is releasing his second solo work this year simply entitled “II”. I’m sure that those who had listened to his first solo album (“What The Water Wants”, 2019) were completely satisfied with the final result since Alder had put his heart and soul into it and had worked exhaustively on the compositions.
We would say that “II” has a clear relation and relevance to “What The Water Wants” with one important difference: it is darker and lyrically more melancholic or if you prefer, introspective. At least that’s how I perceive it. In this light, it’s very close lyrically to the style of Fates. On a purely musical level, the songs are catchy and well-crafted and move more or less in the same style as “What The Water Wants” with a heavier/prog mood. On the very positive side are the excellent production, the performance of the band in the studio (Mike Abdow, Tony Hernando, Craig Anderson) and of course Alder’s always characteristic voice.
Surely all of us would prefer another album from Fates. But if Ray and Jim release such remarkable works then the absence of the Americans will not be so noticeable. Especially, if the two of them collaborate on a new project in the future, as is strongly rumored lately…
Highlight: The cover might be simple but it has something intriguing that catches the eye…
