Ray Alder and Jim Matheos’ musical legacy is huge and lauded, each as collaborators and people. Alder has been the vocalist and important co-writer for prog metallic heroes Fates Warning for the previous 35 years. With them he has recorded 10 albums between 1988 (No Exit) and 2020 (Lengthy Day Good Night time). Additional rounding out his discography are seven albums with Redemption, two solo albums, and the band A-Z with Mark Zonder, which debuted in 2022.

Prolific and pioneering guitarist/producer Matheos is a co-founder of Fates Warning, the lineup debuting with 1984′s Night time on Bröcken on Steel Blade. Along with 13 albums with Fates, Matheos’ myriad different work consists of a number of solo albums, 4 albums alongside former Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore, below the title OSI, and new band, Kings of Mercia, a lineup that’s been termed “a hybrid; it’s heavy, however not metallic.“

On North Sea Echoes‘ debut album, Actually Good Horrible Issues, the duo embarks upon a recent musical journey, a brand new chapter of intimate, moody, and evocative songs highlighted by the singles “Open E book,” “Empty,” “Throwing Stones.”

“All through Actually Good Horrible Issues, Matheos and Alder serve up the type of seductive melancholy Fates Warning followers will acknowledge,” says Jeff Wagner, writer of the Fates Warning e-book Vacation spot Onward. “But there’s a totally completely different method right here: vocals are delivered with a type of nostalgic disappointment, and the guitar work is layered in such a manner as to really feel dreamlike. These are wealthy sonic landscapes, visiting locations haunting, stunning, spectral and secret. The Matheos/Alder partnership is taken to some new and great locations right here,” Wagner concludes.

Matheos and Alder started speaking about working collectively once more as quickly as they accomplished Fates Warning‘s Lengthy Day Good Night time. “We simply didn’t know what, when, the place” says Matheos. “I had begun work on one other Tuesday the Sky document, which is an ambient, largely instrumental, pet venture of mine. However the first songs I’d provide you with felt like they have been extra arrange for vocals. Ray and I had carried out one thing comparable on Lengthy Days Good Night time, a music referred to as ‘When Winter Falls,’ and we each actually preferred the result. So, I requested him if he’d be onto doing a complete document with the same method.”

The resultant Actually Good Horrible Issues was produced by Matheos with cowl artwork from Simon Ward (Kings of Mercia, Marillion). “Open E book” kicks off the document and was additionally the primary music written. Matheos felt that “with Ray’s lyrics about ending and beginnings, it felt like an excellent temper to begin off with.” Alder provides: “The road ‘we’re a cloud behind the moon’ is referring to the truth that we’re all mainly an impossibility. But right here we’re. And we’ll go on till we are able to’t. I’m talking of inevitability.”

The ominous sounding “Empty” begins with Matheos’ atmospheric guitar work and contains a highly effective drum efficiency by Gunnar Olsen (Puscifer). “Throwing Stones,” additionally with Olsen on drums, sees the pair tapping their huge influences to create one of the vital rapid tracks on the document. Lyrically it’s about one thing referred to as “Cherophobia,” as Alder explains: “Some individuals have a concern of happiness. They really feel that one thing painful at all times follows pleasure. So, they’re type of locked into this world the place they attempt to really feel nothing, and that’s what Cherophobia is, and what impressed the lyrics.”

One in all Matheos’ favourite tracks is “No Maps.” Matheos had an idea for the lyrics, and Alder took it from there: “The monitor was a lot, a lot completely different than what ended up on the album. On the demo there was the sound of a freight prepare quietly shifting down the tracks all through your entire music, together with acoustic guitars. Jim stated it reminded him of hobos. So, I assumed I’d write a few wanderer who’s happiest being alone. Sort of romantic to me, in a bizarre manner.”

The songwriting course of was as acquainted one for the Fates Warning vets: Matheos demos music, then passes it alongside to Alder. “If he likes the music, he’ll begin arising with lyrics and melodies. After that, the music will have a tendency undergo additional adjustments, generally minor, generally main, as the ultimate type begins to take form,” explains Matheos.

Actually Good Horrible Issues reveals the breadth and flexibility of the acclaimed pair, together with a freshness that belies their lengthy musical partnership. “We each nonetheless love making music and we actually get pleasure from working collectively. There’s an excellent quantity of chemistry there, I believe,” Matheos concludes. “We each know what to anticipate from one another.”