Review Summary: 38 minutes of space
Space and Post Metal seem like a good combo, Rosetta has done it, and while it may seem easy on paper, it is still a hard thing to do without copying Isis. But this one-man project called Fading Waves managed to release a really interesting album which may please fans of the aforementioned bands. The music itself doesn't bring anything new to the table, but the atmosphere present in this album is just massive. Fading waves was created by Alexey Maximuk, and The Sense Of Space has everything you would expect on a Post Metal album, gigantic build-ups, melodic song climaxes and synths to bring the spacey feel.
Alexey delivers a powerful scream throughout the entire album and while his vocals may not have that much variety in the beginning, the addiction of Anastasia Aristovas clean singing would fix the gaps. The female singer also does add some Gothic elements to the music, which sound interesting for the most part, not to mention they make an excellent contrast with the screams.
The lead guitars, unlike most Post Metal bands, aren't just throwing random melodies, these actually progress throughout the song and act as a perfect percussion for the vocals (specially the clean singing).They end up being the main link between different sections of the music and its a shame that, for the most part, these seem to be the main vehicle for the overall progression. Although the melodies are simply superb, they still can be very similar to Rosetta but the production of the album adds some re-verb effects that actually make these stand out.
One may also wonder if The Sense Of Space is some sort of concept album, since each song gets relatively heavier than the previous one, from the calm synths in "Flashes" to the brutal riffs in "Through The Veins", these are small details that make the album a bit better when listened as a whole. Sadly the addition of synths doesn't take away the fact that the song writing follows the same pattern after awhile, meaning most of the songs consist of a build-up and a more melodic section starting halfway through.
Fading waves can be beautiful and aggressive, serene and crushing, and the album does feel like one big journey, a journey through space. And as for the details of that journey, I'll leave it up to you, since this is the kind of music to sit back, relax and let your mind flow.
