Product Description

A tightly woven matrix of extreme progressive metal underscores a desolate vision of a future gone awry...

Zero Hour represent the cutting edge of tech metal. The band features twin brothers Jasun and Troy Tipton on guitars and bass, drummer Mike

Track Listing

1. Towers of Avarice
2. Subterranean
3. Stratagem
4. Reflections
5. Demise and Vestige
6. Ghosts of Dawn

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54024 in Music
• Released on: 2001-03-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Customer Reviews

Superb musicianship, packaging, and production
When I first listened to The Towers of Avarice (Zero Hour's second CD, their self-titled first being all but out of print), I wasn't impressed. I had a hard time getting into the relentless, complex riffing.

I've given the matter more thought, and added to it two new elements: (1) time, and (2) a growing appreciation for different forms of progressive metal, power metal, and symphonic metal.

In other words, my mind expanded and my tastes broadened.

So here I am once more (say, didn't Marillion coin that phrase 20 years ago on their classic album Script For a Jester's Tear?) listening to Zero Hour's The Towers of Avarice.

And I must say I'm detecting much more depth, originality, and creativity this time around. It's still complex and relentless riffing, but now I have a better perspective on what it all means.

In short, The Towers of Avarice is a truly -- dare I say it? -- towering achievement. It manages to snag the best of Dream Theater-like bands, add the quirkiness of, say, Pain of Salvation, mix in a drop or two of Symphony X's power, and cap it all off with a smattering of Queensryche's mysteriousness and sense of drama (check out "Reflections," for example).

Guitarist/keyboardist Jasun Tipton is a force to be reckoned with. He's got all the chops and the fleet-fingered dexterity of John Petrucci. Yet, I would urge Jasun to develop more majesty, grandeur, and melody in his songwriting and playing.

Vocalist Erik Rosvold has a powerful voice. Sort of like a cross between Jorn Lande, Russell Allen and Geoff Tate (on the beautiful "Reflections," for example). Erik can belt it out, growl with the best of 'em, yet drop down into a smooth-toned melodic sound when necessary (and I wish it were necessary a little more often just for the sake of variety).

Drummer Mike Guy is creative, clever, and adept at handling all the time changes and bursts of speed.

Bassist Troy Tipton is nimble, fluid, and quite understated throughout. He seems to have much more to say musically than he's able to say on The Towers of Avarice. (The bass break in "Demise and Vestige," for instance, seems to indicate he has a flair for the dramatic -- and the ability to pull it off.) I'd like to see Troy's playing featured a bit more on future releases.

In all, The Towers of Avarice is six tracks of accomplished songwriting and musicianship. It's heavy. At times, it's busy. But, wow, does this music compel repeated listenings.

And, although this may seem like a small point in the grand scheme of things, I really appreciate the look of quality in releases by the Sensory label. The cover and inside graphics are first-rate. And the whole thing smacks of class. This is a label to be reckoned with. This Ken Golden guy knows what he's doing. He's even the Executive Producer of The Towers of Avarice, so he not only has an eye for quality packaging, he has an ear for fantastic music.

I recommend The Towers of Avarice. If you don't get it the first listen or two, don't despair. Set it aside for a month. Listen to a few other things. Then return to it once your horizons have expanded.

Zero Hour is obviously a progressive metal band with more to say in the future.

I suggest we listen.

a very innovative, high quality release
I bought this after seeing a review that said that you couldn't listen to this more than once a month, it was so technical. I figured it's good to blow your mind now and then.

So I pop it in, and I'm immediately not impressed by this. The impression came after several good listens. What I found, was an album that was totally different from anything that I own, and is a truly innovative and interesting collection of songs. I agree with the comparisons to heavier, chugging metal like fear factory or meshuggah. The drums are heavy in the mix, and you get plenty of double bass for a prog album. The guitars are often chugging and choppy as well, which leads to these comparisons. But the similarities end there. Also, while the foundation of some of the music is this "chugging" style, it's not the full extent of the music by any part. They throw you a good dose of technical progressive metal that's something to admire. The music cranks along, but the vocals are nothing like your meshuggah style stuff. This guy sings...I mean he's not afraid to get up there and hold a note. This was a bit of a shock for me, because I don't own much progressive/power stuff. I guess it's similar to Queensryche, but I can't make a really indepth comparison of the vocal stylings. At first I didn't dig, but this guy uses his voice in all the right places, and it truly fits the album. Once I learned the material, I started to really enjoy the vocals.

But the key to this album is in the songs. GREAT song structures, innovative vocal deliveries and good lyrics all contribute to the quality of this work. There is some truly innovative stuff going on here, and I would very seriously recommend it. I am very impressed by the quality of this release. You feel that the band is really doing something original, and that's a big plus. I guess the prog crew already know to pick this up, but for those who somehow stumbled here, this is really worth checking out. Very, very good stuff.

(A note on the technical aspect of this music. I guess this album has a certain level of accessability depending on what you've been exposed to. You Cryptopsy fans will be able to digest/roll around in this stuff within a couple of listens, while those who haven't gotten much more technical than say, Warzone, are gonna have to put some work into this. Either way, it's worth it...)

A stunning performance
Zero Hour is a relative newcomer to the progressive metal scene yet they have arrived with a blast. This is their second album and its a real stunner. Forget the Dream Theater clones, this band is out to make it own mark on the scene. I would go as far as to say that they try to re-define the genre.

Incorperating pounding staccato riffs [that remind me somewhat of Fear Factory] with gentle ballad like passages, they carve out their own nice in the overcrowded prog-metal genre. Their singer could be described as a mix between Ronnie James Dio and John Arch. I say "could" because he has a very unique sound of its own. Prog-metal like you never heard it before. It kinda sounds like... Zero Hour.

And if that would not be enought this album is also a concept album with a very interesting theme behind it. Combine this with a first class production and the beautifull artwork done by none other than Travis Smith and you have one MONSTER of an album on your hands. This will be a classic.

Get it NOW! You will not regret it.