Forgotten Suns | When Worlds Collide 

Label: Premiere Music
Release Year : 2015
Country : Lisbon, Portugal
Genre: Progressive Metal/Rock

Band Members

Ricardo Falcão – Guitar
J.C Samora – Drums
Nuno Correia – Bass
Nio Nunes – Vocals
Ernesto Rodrigues – Keyboards

Official Forgotten Suns Distribution Website

Official Forgotten Suns Facebook

Official Forgotten Suns YouTube Channel

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They often say that the right thing will happen at the right time. This is now my experience with Portugal’s progressive powerhouse band Forgotten Suns. A buddy of mine earlier in the year sent me the audio files of the bands newest offering of 2015 When Worlds Collide. For the last two months I could not go one day without a full listen to the album. For some reason I can not put down the album nor cease from my attention towards it.
Forgotten Suns were founded in 1991. While bands like Watchtower, Fates Warning, Crimson Glory and Queensryche left a lot of stellar work and the blueprint for progressive/power metal, it would be Dream Theater that would really take it by the horns and run with it. Remember in 1991 as well grunge had taken melodic, glam, and metal as we know it in the US and shelved it for a time. Reminder as well, Dream Theater’s monster Images And Words was yet to be released and would come later in 1992. Therefore basically what a band like Dream Theater was doing in the USA, Forgotten Suns was doing for their homeland of Portugal and Europe in general.

 So I am here in 2015 and just discovered Forgotten Suns through their latest offering When Worlds Collide. There is some thrash metal influence on this record anywhere from Megadeth to Metallica. ‘Great Album’ would be a understatement this is a sheer masterpiece. Let us explore it. 

The Road To Nowhere Part 1 has much a intro as Megadeth’s Foreclosure Of A Dream before kicking into this rapid fire and kick ass blast beats section much like the sub middle portions of Metallica’s One, where even the bass serves as a percussive instrument alongside the drums. Also in the intro there is a voice over dialogue that automatically sets a conceptual tone about to tell a story.  At many points it is progressive thrash metal containing time signatures that ascend and climb to the opening harmonies. At about the 4:44 mark it goes into this really wicked cyber death metal style grunt. Throughout the rest of the track there is a powerful roller coaster of sheer and complex time signatures and hooks. Then about 6:35 mark there is some wicked rhythm section with a spoken word overlay of twists and turns. Approaching the 8:35 mark there are a series of killer guitar solos. 

In Harms Way opens up with a thunderous rhythm section of bass, drums and guitar in unison. Soon  after taking a more melodic turn both musically and lyrically with very definitive harmonies and some killer background deathy style grunts and growls. At about the 3:25 mark boom a spoken word portion emerges in death metal fashion. There seems to be a spoken word and spoken dialogue trend taking shape on When Worlds Collide here. A little Amon Amarth meets Symphony X and Dream Theater all at once.  

Somewhere In The Darkness opens with a beautiful piano blended with a warm beautiful vocal. The piano lends a great deal of dark melody to this track. This is in its nature a very internal introspective track both lyrically and musically. It really borders on the form of a power ballad, however not in a classic rock nor a AOR sense. It is more of a ballad of progressive power metal vibe like Dream Theater’s – Forsaken from 2006’s Systematic Chaos. The guitar solo towards the end is very John Petrucci like especially in a track The Ministry Of Lost Souls.

Fortress Of Silence has a Ayreon style intro especially from albums like Into The Electric Castle and both parts to the Universal Migrator- Dream Sequencer/Flight Of The Migrator. Ernesto Rodrigues – Keyboards, reminds me a lot of Gunter Werno of Vanden Plas with such a very distinctive sound. Sometimes even Jordan Rudess like. Nio Nunes – Vocals at times throughout the track has a way to go to a high aggressive register to a very warm vocal.

When Worlds Collide has a gorgeous opening piano passage before embarking on a straight away progressive hard rock passage that soon ascends towards progressive thrash metal time signatures. About the 2:00 mark it breaks towards a lush atmospheric backdrop as the vocals are introduced. Afterwards entrers a rhythmic section where the bass is a more percussive instrument with the drums as the vocals kick in. This reminds me of many tracks from Pain of Salvation’s – Perfect Element Part 1 and Remedy Lane.  In When Worlds Collide the band really executes the piano and keyboards as they send the listener on a journey through multiple time signatures with guitars, bass and drums. When Worlds Collide has some seriously heavy djent passages throughout the entire track that keep the track demanding the audience to listen to what is to come next. 

Rise & Fall for some reason reminds me of the intro to Shadow Gallery’s – Encrypted from 2008’s Room V album.  It has a very semi electric/ semi acoustical vibe. This also contains prog ballad elements much like Dream Theater’s Wither and Hollowed Years.  Rise & Fall  is one of those tracks I see as a acoustic track in live sets. 

The Road To Nowhere Part 2 opens with a 6:30 passage of ascending progressions going in and out with various time signatures. The intro has a vibe about it that is like a musical introduction to a story about to be told. Its melodic introduction kind of reminds me of old vintage films where the credits were first before they started the film much like a movie soundtrack. This is followed by a beautiful duet between the male and female vocal.
This goes one until the 11:25 mark where the track once again takes a progressive ascension in between progressive hard rock/metal. The lead and background vocals make for a perfect statement with all the elements in the previous tracks. It very much so reminds me of Dream Theater’s – Systematic Chaos with In The Presence Of My Enemies Part 1 & 2. The track finishes with a serious tight finale.

Out of the albums in 2015 I have reviewed thus far, Forgotten Suns – When Worlds Collide continues to grow on me. It is easily going to finish in the Top 5 of my top albums in 2015. I can not wait to hear this with some live in concert treatment whether I see them live, buy a live album or DVD. When Worlds Collide easily gets a 4.5/5.