Hevidence – Nobody’s Fault

[schema type=”review” name=”Hevidence – Nobody’s Fault” description=”Label: Frontiers Records” author=”Sarp Esin” pubdate=”2016-12-02″ ]Think rock has to be hard and fast all the time? Think again, and while you do that, take a look at the Hevidence album, Nobody’s Fault, for further food for thought.  Let’s wrack our brains.

Italy may have a reputation for being many things, but what it also has is an abundance of gothic, symphonic and progressive music.  The founder of Hevidence, Diego Reali, just so happens to fit that mold due to his background in prog (DGM, Goblin), which is reflected in this venture in many different ways.  From its versatility in approach to the way it is produced, Nobody’s Fault has a prog in its spirit, if not in its everything else.  This may not be a progressive rock album, but it sure likes moving around in the general vicinity of.

Now, first thing’s last – Hevidence has a unique sound.  The blend has traces of prog metal, power prog, power metal, the anthemic side of heavy metal, and other influences, used sparingly.  All of this is blended in the blender of hard rock and rock’n’roll, as well as a bit of blues and served hot.  The production shows off the wonderful bass that moves with the ebb and flow of each track. The guitar work is competent and focused.  There is some excellent (if slightly showy) soloing going on that carries that prog proficiency married to showboating.  To support it all, the drums pound and shake, although they rarely distinguish themselves.

As you might’ve guessed, Nobody’s Fault has a lot going for it, and a lot of room to show off a lot of things, which is where things get a bit bumpy.  For example: “All that I Needed” is that rock song you hear playing in the background of every dive bar in every police procedural TV show ever.  “Miracle,” for another, is a Judas Priest-like tune, an ode to heavy metal that’s almost a parody of itself.  “So Unkind” is laced with swing jazz vibes, attached almost seamlessly to a fun-loving, almost pop-like rock spirit.  The album has these welcome moments when it flips the script, stays grounded, but becomes something a bit different.

Speaking of different, Nobody’s Fault wasn’t produced along the lines of your typical rock album.  The production is very, very prog.  It has all the gloss of a well-polished, smooth marble slab, blinding in its clarity.  It mixes well, too: the drums hit as much as they need to, the bass cuts through the mix, the guitars (chords and proggy shenanigans) are crisp and clear.  This works in the album’s favor, as it feels like a modern masterpiece that doesn’t sacrifice music quality to fantastic production values: Nobody’s Fault is like a breath fresh air in a world of overly-compressed albums or deliberate lo-fi obsessions.

However, this is where a major weakness of the album is.  The vocals are so buried in the mix that you can only make out half of what’s being sung, and that’s half the time – it just fades into the background as some dude goes on and on about this or that.  This is reflective of a prevalent issue here: Nobody’s Fault itself takes conscious effort to keep hearing.  The songs manage to capture the listener’s attention just fine, but each one of them fail to hold it.  Well-made but unremarkable songs like “Ave Maria”, “Dig in the Night”, or “Out of This Time” don’t help.  Given that albums shouldn’t need a constant reality check to not fade into the background, it exposes a major flaw in songwriting.

The major thing about Nobody’s Fault is that it’s the album you know.  Y’know, the one that sounds awesome at first listen, and the second time around it’s still good but the third time you realize there’s not much in there to make you commit long-term to it, and then you forget about it completely? That’s what this is.  Worth a listen (or two,) but it’s like writing on water.

Line-up:
Corrado Quoiani – Vocals
Diego Reali – Guitars
Andrea Arcangeli – Bass
Emiliano Bonini – Drums

Tracklist: 01. Dig in the Night 02. Nobody’s Fault 03. Miracle 04. So Unkind 05. Ave Maria 06. Overdrive 07. I Want More 08. Out of This Time 09. Pack Your Bags 10. All I Ever Needed 11. Note

Links:
Hevidence Official
Hevidence on Facebook