CoC : Nueairea - Alter The Regular : Review

Nueairea - _Alter The Regular_
by: Adrian Bromley (not rated)

This quartet of progressive metallers hail from East Bay (I assume that means the San Francisco bay area?) - home to Metallica, Testament and Release, and as far as fitting in with the aforementioned crowd of metal outfits, this band is flowing in its own direction. Sounding like a shallower, less powerful replica of Florida's triumphant Savatage, Nueairea do have the metallic edge that Metallica and Testament scattered throughout the Bay area; this is evident on the epic "Guidance Part I" and "Guidance Part II" but also have a very Pink Floyd-ish vibe within their music, thanks in part to the use of harmony, melody and keyboards. Plus the lyrics to many of the songs are well thought out. But sad to say, _Alter The Regular_ is missing a more metallic crunch to keep the listener interested, and that is quite evident with the slow-paced openers of "Systems", "Nevermore", and "Comparisons Of Rage" that were chosen to lead off this eight-song effort, rather than anything with strength or speed like "All" or "The Last Minute", the seventh and eighth songs of the demo. For most fans of both speed metal and progressive metal, this album could be interpreted as a stepping stone to something in the future with better, tighter production and music construction that emphasizes growth and strength as songwriters, or just another one of those bands that'll have a demo and fade off into obscurity in a year or so.

Contact: NUEAIREA, 920 Rose Drive

(article published 9/2/1996)