Perennial Quest is a Boston-based band formed in 2015. They’ve expanded recently from six to seven members, adding a keyboard player to further round out their power metal sound. Their eponymous EP is only four songs, but they aren’t short little radio ditties, instead running longer and giving the listener a bit of a treat. Progressive metal moments are added to their brand of power metal, which is a mashup of everything from old-school Helloween to Dragon Force to Blind Guardian. I would say, “kick back and enjoy,” but I bet you won’t be able to sit still while listening to this one!

https://perennialquest.bandcamp.com

Band Members:

  • Tony DiBiase – Lead and Backing Vocals
  • Andrew Matarazzo – Guitars/Backing Vocals
  • Sam Jewell – Guitars/Backing Vocals
  • Davy Allen – Guitars/Backing Vocals
  • Ben Sharon – Bass
  • Kevin Ordway – Drums

Perennial Quest self-released its debut EP on October 16, 2020.

Tracklist:

  1. Twisted Circuits
  2. Beyond The Light
  3. The Immortal Sons
  4. Nightmare Horizon

This EP begins with “Twisted Circuits,” a rapid-fire track with some excellent double bass drumming and speed metal guitar work. The rhythm, both the bass and the guitar riff work, are solid. The rhythms support the lead work with impressive accuracy. The keyboards are relatively subdued. They add to the texture, but in a more sublime way than on other tracks. The vocals are fantastic. Tony has an incredible range and fits the music well. Overall, the composition is excellent. It is almost straight power metal but has a nod to progressive metal with a massive shift just under the four-minute mark.

“Beyond The Light” is seven and a half minutes of epic power metal. The guitar work is built for the telling of a story, a journey of epic proportions, and you get that. The vocals are soaring, showing off the singer’s range. This is the song that would have me jokingly calling the band DragoWeen of HelloForce because you hear a portmanteau of those two styles (DragonForce and Helloween, for those who are wondering). It’s a lively song that goes from lightning fast to melodic power and back a few times, giving us the beginning, middle, and end of this trek. The progressive methodology in this song is some of their best work, in my opinion.

“The Immortal Sons” is the runt of the litter track on this record. At just under six minutes, it is the shortest song. Perennial Quest apparently does not want to cheat their fans of a full-length song. The track may not run as long, but you still get six minutes of blazing fast riffage and vocals that go all over the place, as you’ve come to know and love from this group.

The conclusion of this EP is a song called “Nightmare Horizon,” another seven-plus-minute track. More exuberant guitar work, both with the riffs and the rhythms. Here, you have more prominent keyboard work, showing the breadth of this band’s songwriting skills. They can flex instruments, including keys and bass, and drums to the front without losing their identity as a three-guitar outfit. The guitar harmonies in this track are a bit more noticeable as well. They happen frequently, but for some odd reason, they stand out more in this song. That could be because I focused closer this time.

There is a lot to each of these songs, which is why some things stand out more at different times. The instruments are always there, but if you listen more than once to these songs, you will catch new things on each pass-through. Perennial Quest writes complex songs with many different pieces, all working together to build a world of sound for the listener to get lost within. This is why they’ve expanded to a seven-piece band on stage. Rather than use multiple samples or piped-in recordings, they can deliver all of this sound, live, as intended.

The guitars are fast and accurate, and each lead brings its own flair to rhythms and solos. The singer is a mixture of Michael Kiske, Geoff Tate, and Hansi Kursch (if you have to Google any of them, are you even metal?). The rhythms are incredibly complex and fast, giving the listener a blast of energy. These guys do not write songs to fit standard radio format, which I love about them. Forget a three-minute, check the box style track; you will always get what the song needs to be. Long live POWER PROG!

MZ Ratings:

  • Musicianship
    • Guitars – 9
    • Rhythms – 9
    • Vocals – 9
  • Songwriting – 9
  • Production – 9
  • Overall – 9


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