ATHENA XIX – “Everflow Part 1: Frames Of Humanity” (2024)
The news that ATHENA will release a new album in 2024 hit like a brick! We are talking about the band that gave us the gem called “A new religion?” back in 1998 and were disbanded in 2002, so their existence was anything but expected. The line-up is exactly the same as the album mentioned above, in contrast to 2001’s “Twilight of day” that was mostly different.
Despite the same members, the sound of the album is evolved and has very little similarities with the past. That is the reason why the addition of XIX in their name makes not only perfect sense, but is also essential. It is the band’s statement that they are back but different. The question is if they will manage to leave their mark the same way they did all those years ago.
What “A new religion?” did good, was opting for melodies and innovation. For example ‘Apocalypse’ hid a nice tribute to Dany Elfman, while the ballad ‘Not too far’ featured a saxophone. “Everflow” on the other side enlists a more Industrial sound and goes for a heavy and dark atmosphere, to the point that they skipped the ballad in a tracklist of 13 songs.
If you go in expecting a Prog/Power sound be prepared to find heavy Progressive elements as they have not been eliminated, something that was the fate of their Power Metal side that has been buried. In order to support this new direction, the great Fabio Lione sounds more aggressive than ever and showcases his skills with ease. His presence in the metal discography was very intense the past years with countless guest sessions and full length releases, but here I feel we have a different side of him, so even his long time fans will find nice details in the vocal department.
The group is at the best of their game when they play fast and heavy with songs like ‘The seed’ and ‘Legacy of the world’, with the second even winking to Lione’s eurobeat past! This does not mean that their heavy playing smothers good melodies, not when there are tracks like ‘The conscience of everything’ that come with a chorus like that or ‘Idle minds’ with its great leads. Overall most songs have interesting parts, pointing to a very good job in instrumentation as well.
My only small gripe is when the time comes for slower, more melodic segments, as I found they were not able to capture the emotional expression they should, at least for my ears. As a result and as much as Roy Khan is one of my favorite singers, his collaboration in the track ‘I wish’ ended up as my least favorite which is a shame considering it was my most expected track. Since the tracklist is rich enough, I also found a moment or two that did not share the same gravity with the rest of the music but nothing game breaking.
Summing up the unexpected but most welcome return of ATHENA XIX, it takes a completely new direction with few ties to the past, but this change works like a charm creating a positive outcome. Where I see the difficulty is whether I will feel the same about “Everflow…” in 26 years, like I feel now with “A new religion?”. It is an album that periodically pops up in my head and when my mind goes there it is always accompanied by praising thoughts. This is not to say that the new record is lacking, but a testament of how classic the band’s history is and how it cannot be replicated. So instead of opting to do that, I appreciate ATHENA even more for trying something new and in the end succeeding.
70/100
Pavlos Pavlakis
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