Caught somewhere in the middle of hard rock and progressive heavy metal is Colobar’s
Behind The Veil Of Oblivion, a seven-song barrage of sometimes melodic, sometimes
hard-pounding music. Hints of Rush, Dream Theatre, and Styx run through their high-
paced, frantic-but -controlled guitar onslaught. The music itself is simply well-played,
with the tempos, rhythms, and guitar shredding sounding spot on. The changes in speeds
and rhythm m give the music that progressive element, mixed proportionately with
traditional heavy metal/hard rock fundamentals.
The album starts of with the frenzied “Change Of Ages”, a hard hitting, pile-driving
tune that brings out the metal in the band. The guitar soar, the drums kick and pound,
and the song rockets from start to finish; a real high-energy heavy metal bullet. After
this track, the title cut is bolstered by some mighty fine keyboard work in the middle,
surrounded once again by slick time changes, excellent guitar work, and a bounty of
different progressive elements that churn and weave throughout the tune. Think of a
heavier, metal-sounding Yes, with a harder edge.
“Timeline” is another hard-pulsing mover, with feverish percussion and great singing
from Carl Sentance. This one doesn’t stop to breathe for a second, and the lyrics are well-
composed to boot. Similar to “Timeline’ is “Listen”. While not as feverish, it’s a stellar
track that begins with some sparkling keyboard playing, which then morphs into a sharp-
sounding prog-metal tune with emphasis on the crisp drum work. “Secrets” has a sort
of Styx-sounding aura to it, incorporating violin with the guitar bits, and placing all this into another intricate piece of well-crafted music. Although slightly more commercial
sounding than the other tracks, this cut shows the band can also create slicker stuff if they want to.
On “The Way Out”, sounds a bit like Supertramp in places (the keyboard lines do,
anyway), but their bottom-heavy guitar playing and classic metal tempo evens things out
as the song progresses. This one has a lighter feel on the whole, but moves well thanks
to the singer’s part and the changes in tempo every so often. The last song, “Can’t Feel”,
employs a little bit of everything; prog keyboard, crunchy guitar, snappy drum playing,
and mellow interludes.
Metal fans will hear quite a bit of their listening repertoire in Colobar’s music…there’s
nothing extremely new here. That being said, this band does know how to blend the best
elements of progressive metal, heavy metal, and hard rock together to produce some
attractive metal music. There’s nothing boring, mundane, or repetitive within these seven
tracks. There is, however, a delightful myriad of genres fusing together for an exciting
and dynamic end product.
Review By: Mike DeGagne
Rating: 3.5 Stars (out of 5)
