NORTH SEA ECHOES, the new project featuring two members of the pioneering progressive metal act FATES WARNING, singer Ray Alder and guitarist Jim Matheos, will release its debut album, “Really Good Terrible Things”, on February 23, 2024 via Metal Blade. The band is pleased to share the second taste of the upcoming record with their new single, “Unmoved”, which is out today.
Speaking about the lyrical concepts behind “Unmoved”, Alder shares: “Some people dealing with depression often exhibit a remarkable ability to conceal their inner struggles by presenting a facade of happiness to the world.”
The first single off the record, “Open Book” kicked things off, and was also the first song written for “Really Good Terrible Things”.
Matheos shared: “With Ray‘s lyrics about ending and beginnings, it felt like a good mood to start off with.”
Alder added: “The line ‘we’re a cloud behind the moon’ is referring to the fact that we are all basically an impossibility. Yet here we are. And we will go on until we can’t. I’m speaking of inevitability.”
Alder and Matheos‘s musical legacy is vast and lauded, both as collaborators and individuals. Alder has been the vocalist and main co-writer for prog metal heroes FATES WARNING for the past 35 years. With them, he has recorded 10 albums between 1988 (“No Exit”) and 2020 (“Long Day Good Night”). Further 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 On Bröcken” on Metal Blade. In addition to 13 albums with FATES, Matheos‘s myriad other work includes several solo albums, four albums alongside former DREAM THEATER keyboardist Kevin Moore, under the name OSI, and new band KINGS OF MERCIA, a lineup that’s been termed “a hybrid; it’s heavy, but not metal.”
“Throughout ‘Really Good Terrible Things’, Matheos and Alder serve up the kind of seductive melancholy FATES WARNING fans will recognize,” says Jeff Wagner, author of the FATES WARNING book “Destination Onward”. “Yet there’s a thoroughly different approach here: vocals are delivered with a sort of nostalgic sadness, and the guitar work is layered in such a way as to feel dreamlike. These are rich sonic landscapes, visiting places haunting, beautiful, spectral and secret. The Matheos/Alder partnership is taken to some new and wonderful places here,” Wagner concludes.
“Really Good Terrible Things” shows the breadth and versatility of the acclaimed pair, along with a freshness that belies their long musical partnership.
“We both still love making music and we really enjoy working together. There’s a good amount of chemistry there, I think,” Matheos shares. “We both know what to expect from each other.”
“Really Good Terrible Things” track listing:
01. Open Book
02. Flowers In Decay
03. Unmoved
04. Throwing Stones
05. Empty
06. The Mission
07. Where I’m From
08. We Move Around The Sun
09. Touch The Sky
10. No Maps
NORTH SEA ECHOES is:
Jim Matheos – guitar
Ray Alder – vocals
Photo credit: Jeremy Saffer