Arch / Matheos: Midnight Serenade – new video

 

 

Directed by David Brodsky, ‘Midnight Serenade’ comes from ARCH / MATHEOS' debut album ‘Sympathetic Resonance’, released on Metal Blade Records in September 2011. Visit here (SoundCloud) for more magic that happens when Jim Matheos (FATES WARNING and OSI) and John Arch (ex-vocalist of FATES WARNING) team up; download yourselves a free tune, ‘Stained Glass Sky’, there and buy this magnum opus here. ‘Sympathetic Resonance’ debuted at number 13 on the Billboard New Artist Chart and at number 36 on the Billboard Hard Music Chart and performed well on some European charts, climbing to position number 27 in Germany, 67 in Austria, and 78 in Switzerland.

“I think John and I work really well together,” [Jim Matheos offered his insight on the writing and recording process of ‘Sympathetic Resonance’] “There’s a lot of mutual respect and trust in what we do. But, we’re also both very critical of ourselves, and each other. This can make for a long and, sometimes, tedious process. But ultimately it’s one I enjoy because I think it brings out the best in both of us.” [Added John Arch:] “When I first heard some of the arrangements Jim had written and recorded, it took quite some time before I could wrap my mind around the odd time signatures and guitar work going on here. There are some long compositions, so putting anxiety and apprehension on the back burner it was time to dissect these numbers into digestible bits. After the lengthy process of lyrics and melodies, listening to the songs now, I can’t imagine them any other way.”

Most hard working Steel Druhm (Angry Metal Guy) reviewed ‘Sympathetic Resonance’ thusly:

“Although there are only six songs here, most are quite long and it feels like a dense, full album. All the songs are very good and overflow with technical ability. Despite the ambitious songwriting, all the songs flow organically and don’t feel like disparate pieces glued together (unlike much of the new OPETH opus). No matter how diverse the songs get, Arch's vocals bind everything together into a cohesive whole and keep things accessible and memorable. Its also admirable that this all star line-up never let things drift into pointless instrumental wank-fest territory. While this is an instrumentally rich album, the tech wizardry is in service of the songs themselves rather than anyone's ego.” [Read the rest here]

ARCH / MATHEOS features: John Arch – vocals, Jim Matheos – guitars, Joey Vera – bass (ARMORED SAINT, ANTHRAX, FATES WARNING, SEVEN WITCHES), Bobby Jarzombek – drums (HALFORD, FATES WARNING, SEBASTIAN BACH, RIOT…) and Frank Aresti - additional lead guitar (FATES WARNING)