French band A NEW DAY FOR HEAVEN is a fairly new band to the scene, formed in 2011 if I understand their Facebook page correctly, and appears to revolve around the compositions of Stephane Coubray. Their self-titled debut album, subtitled “Every Angel Has a Dark Side”, was self released by the band in 2013.
One should note that this is a rather ambitious production. The album is a conceptual one, and sports a grand total of 27 tracks spread over 2 CDs, clocking in at just under two hours. ASs far as style is concerned, progressive metal is probably the best description overall, and of a kind that roughly falls in under the Dream Theater school of that brand of music.
When that is said, this isn’t a full fledged metal production from start to finish. The band utilize a fair share of different stylistic expressions throughout, with majestic parts closer to the likes of Spock’s Beard, ballad-oriented excursions and more distinct atmospheric intermissions with more of a cinematic nature to them all having a natural place here. Some of them appear to have been crafted to fit the story unfolding, but none of them comes across as superfluous due to that. This is, by and large, a very well made and executed production, and comes across as a cohesive experience also from a listener’s perspective.
It is when the band hits progressive metal territories that they makes most of an impact however. With alternating male and female vocals, the former just as often in the guise of more guttural, aggressive barks with slight tendencies towards black metal as performed in a regular, melodic manner, and with fairly frequent use of spoken and whispered inserts and details to boot. As far as the latter goes, fragmented and dampened whispering and subdued voice and vocal effects is something of a characteristic trait throughout that gives this album a fairly distinct atmosphere.
One might arguably state that A NEW DAY FOR HEAVEN is a tad more guitar based in their exploration of progressive metal than many others. While keyboards do have their place and we are treated to a fair share of majestic guitar and keyboard dominated arrangements, it is when they utilize dark, gnarly guitar riffs that I feel the band hits their most compelling themes, especially when this is combined with the more guttural lead vocals as previously mentioned. Of course these are high impact constructions to begin with, and those with a stronger affection for material of a more careful nature will find plenty to enjoy as well.
A New Day In Heaven’s self-titled double feature comes across as a well made and accomplished production all in all, where the only slight negative detail I noted were occasional weak male lead vocals in places. This is a minor issue however, and one that first and foremost will be noticed by those who have a very sensitive ear to such matters. Even so this is a production it is easy to recommend having a go at, and to fans of bands that falls inside of the Dream Theater school of progressive metal most of all. Especially those amongst them that enjoys when a band adds a fair bit of variety to their progressive metal foundation.
My rating: 77/100