In January already the progressive power-metal-band ALOGIA from Serbia, which is quite well known in its own country by now, released its album Secret Spheres Of Art.
Founded in the year 2000 by the brothers Miroslav and Sdrjan Brankovic, ALOGIA recorded two long players for One Records in Serbian in 2002 and 2004, therefore it is no surprise that the new one's sound is absolutely professional. Additionally, all the band members have been collecting experiences in making music since years with bands like Hexagram, Draconic and Psychoparadox.

The name of the band alone sounds creatively already. ALOGIA literally means speechlessness. In medical and psychological context it is the name for a symptom of schizophrenia, for the complete lack or for poverty of speech. This naming is interesting, since the band is one of those, which handles words and music with great virtuosity and resourcefulness and therefore is anything else than speechless - isn't that schizophrenic in itself?

Musically ALOGIA originates in western bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Helloween, as they say themselves, but progressive influences from Dream Theater and Arcturus can't be neglected at all. Apart from that, ALOGIA also uses elements of traditional oriental music or e.g. Scottish folk.
Such a mixture easily could become hopelessly lost, but the abilities of the musicians let it develop towards a feast for the ears. This underlines the fact that they are rated among the best musicians of their country.
The songs are written in an unorthodox and innovative way. They are exciting all the way. Unexpected changes in rhythm, breaks and the intelligent use of electronic sounds, but as well little excerpts of generally known melodies are proves of the imagination, humour and the different cultural background of ALOGIA.

The album Secret Spheres Of Art is the English version of the first ALOGIA release Price o Vremenu (recorded in 2000). Guitarist Srdjan once said in an interview, that in fact only the lyrics had been translated to English and everything else they left just as it was in the original Serbian release.
One can feel, listening to Secret Spheres Of Art that there is expressed a lot of rage - the music is aggressive and fast - but it is characterized by a basic atmosphere of hope. Both can be directly explained by the fact that it was created short after the last war in Serbia and it mirrors the feelings and experiences of the musicians, who had been still very young back then.

The opener and title song Secret Spheres is by far the longest one and reaches the listener directly in a powerful and aggressive way, but not without surprises. All the other titles are much shorter; most of them don't reach the four-minute-mark. It would have been interesting to get to know how e.g. an instrumental like Kontinuum would have developed over a longer period of time. Also questionable is the repeated use of very short instrumentals (Journey Into The Dawn Of Life, Mystica Aegyptiorum, Astral Horizons and Overture Solemnis), whose good potentials have got no chance to develop. Or do they stand for the potential that is destroyed by wars? Well, perhaps this interpretation is a bit far-fetched.
The ballade Lament is wonderfully emotional without drifting into unnecessary sentimentality. Catchy and somehow classic is Falling Asleep, which sometimes seems to become monotonous, but the band is able to prevent this tendency by playing with sophisticated ideas, especially in the lines of melody.
Only sometimes ALOGIA's musicians actually want too much. In such a case the unbelievably high speed in playing the instruments leads to the impression of inaccuracy. Also singer Nikola Mijik sometimes would be better off not trying to sing as high as Kai Hansen, Ralf Scheepers or Timo Kotipelto.

Most people, who usually get excited about the above mentioned bands, should be very satisfied with Secret Spheres Of Art.
With this album we have another prove that good music is universal and ALOGIA will get a solid place inside the European, if not world-wide, metal-scene. Therefore there is no question that Secret Spheres Of Art is rated among the better releases with 8/10.

One should be looking forward to the next release of this band either. It is supposed to be the English version of their second album, which is said to be even more progressive and not as close to power-metal than the current one.