Jeff Plate is a name widely known to progressive metal fans. His drums made history with Savatage, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) and Metal Church, and for the past couple of years with his own project, the band Alta Reign. Their second album, ‘Upon The Horizon’, has landed recently: an interesting mixture of rock, prog and metal, expanding on what they did in their debut album ‘Mother’s Day’ in 2021.
A fairly pronounced role has been given to keyboards and piano work, courtesy of Jane Mangini (one of Jeff’s friends from TSO). The album starts off with a beautiful piano led instrumental track where strong classical vibes melt into those distinctive progressive vibes we remember from the best years of Dream Theater. Though this could set particular expectations about music being influenced by classics, that’s not how the album goes on. Its prog taste comes from some serious organised chaos (“Between The Eyes”, “3s”, “Tip Of My Tongue”, with a jazzy bass taste, too, in “Animation”), and a tiny bit of intentional discordance (“Between The Eyes”). Some songs may make you wonder if they have been taken out of a video game soundtrack (“3s”) or from an action scene from “The Matrix” (“Upon The Horizon”), giving it a bit of an edge.
As in the first album, this one boasts some good choruses and harmonies. Catchy tunes don’t seem to be a thing here, but there are a couple of those, too (the title track, “Defy”).
Needless to say, drums are outstanding. A particular highlight in terms of strong drum section is “Defy”: a track with steady rhythm, aggressive riffs and vocals. The lead vocals style is similar to what we heard in Alta Reign’s debut CD: as if coming from the background, or underwater, giving the music an extra prog dimension.
Personal favourites are the opening track and “Have No Fear”, a beautiful sad ballad.
The album includes the bonus track “Beneath the Rose”, tribute to late Paul O’Neill (founder of TSO) and features guitars by Chris Caffery and Al Pitrelli (also former TSO members).
We will be talking to Jeff in the near future, once the TSO Christmas tour wraps up, so stay tuned for news on that front.
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Reviewed by Angelina Pelova.
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Upon The Horizon is available now via RatPak Records.
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Track List:
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Reverent
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No Madness
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Defy
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Between The Eyes
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3’s
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Upon the Horizon
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Tip Of My Tongue
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Have No Fear
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Animation
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Beneath the Rose (Bonus track CD only) feat. Chris Caffery and Al
