Photo by Jeremy Saffer
Watch/stream NORTH SEA ECHOES’ “Good Enough” HERE.
NORTH SEA ECHOES, the project featuring progressive metal pioneers, singer Ray Alder and guitarist Jim Matheos, of Fates Warning, today unveils a video for “Good Enough.” The sentimental track appears on the band’s latest studio album, How To Cast A Shadow, out now on Metal Blade Records.
Comments Alder, “‘Good Enough’ was one of the first songs written for How To Cast A Shadow. It’s a simple yet beautiful song, and it quickly became one of my favorite songs that Jim and I had written together. While we never intended for it to be released as a single or video we decided that while we were together for a photo shoot we would also shoot a video for this. I think that we both agreed that this song was just too nice not to be shared with others.”
Watch NORTH SEA ECHOES’ “Good Enough” video HERE.
Watch NORTH SEA ECHOES’ previously released video for “Enjoy The View” HERE and “I’ll Leave A Light On” video HERE.
On NORTH SEA ECHOES’ 2024-released Really Good Terrible Things full-length, Alder and Matheos garnered rave reviews for songs that possessed, “liberating sonic space and emotional vulnerability… from somnambulant electro-fog to gritty, overdriven disquiet, to the quietly devastating (Blabbermouth).” With How To Cast A Shadow, the band’s identity is further expanded upon and explored.
“This record is a bit heavier,” asserts Matheos, “with several more songs featuring real drums, played by Dennis Leeflang. It wasn’t necessarily intentional or planned, just the way things shaped up and how they emerged this time.”
From the radio-ready rock of “All That Comes After” and the intimate, escalating “A Time Of Innocence And Purpose” to the powerful, timeless ballad “Villains Or Saints,” How To Cast A Shadow cohesively crosses genres and challenges aural preconceptions.
Writes Metal Hammer, “Evoking the feeling of Geoff Tate returning to his prime and Queensrÿche reconnecting with their greatest strengths, How To Cast A Shadow is nothing short of a catchy, anthemic, and captivating masterpiece that explores the full spectrum of timeless progressive rock… a sheer delight.” New Noise Magazine agrees, “Atmospheric, melancholic, ambient… this is the way NORTH SEA ECHOES navigates through while composing their music. Their sound takes one to a gloomy voyage that deals with the feeling of yearning and nostalgia. Yet, the music is so captivating that you keep playing it on and on.”
The Prog Report notes, “In the wide variety of progressive bands that are out there, this album capitalizes on the simplicity and honesty of music in one of its most organic forms: pure, raw emotion… How To Cast A Shadow is proof that you don’t need overly complex songs for you to feel the music. There’s a shade of melancholy that permeates the album and provides glue that holds the songs together. When it comes to feeling music, the question of ‘how’ doesn’t factor as much as ‘why.’ Explore the ‘why.’” Adds Maximum Volume Music, “How To Cast A Shadow does not abandon the sound of the debut; it expands it. The darkness remains, but this time there are louder drums, heavier guitars and even greater emotional weight. It turns out those shadows still contain plenty of really good things.”
The duo’s shared and separate histories help to forge a fresh creative opus. Alder has been the vocalist and main co-writer for prog metal heroes Fates Warning for 37 years, recording ten albums between 1988 (No Exit) and 2020 (Long Day Good Night). Rounding out his discography are seven albums with Redemption, two solo records, and the band A-Z, which debuted in 2022.
Revered guitarist and producer Matheos is a cofounder of Fates Warning, the lineup debuting with 1984’s Night On Bröcken on Metal Blade. In addition to thirteen albums with Fates Warning, Matheos launched several solo albums, four LPs alongside former Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore under the name OSI, and Kings Of Mercia, which launched in 2022.
How To Cast A Shadow is out now on CD and digital formats. Preview/purchase the record at: metalblade.com/northseaechoes.
How To Cast A Shadow Track Listing:
- A Time of Innocence and Purpose
- Enjoy the View
- Good Enough
- I’ll Leave a Light On
- All Fall Away
- Revenge
- Villains or Saints
- What is and What Was
- All That Comes After
- How to Cast a Shadow
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