Redemption Don’t Really Listen to Much Prog

Prog is oftentimes a dirty word to non-prog fans. It conjures up images of noodly and lengthy guitar solos, and an excess of intricate parts that often appeal to a finely-tuned ear. So, just how does a band like Redemption, featuring Fates Warning vocalist Ray Alder, clean up the perception of prog with their new album, 'Snowfall on Judgment Day'? Unintentionally is how! Alder admitted that he doesn't listen to prog, despite his membership in two prog acts, and that his band's emphasis on melody is what he's most focused on.

"It's funny, since I don't really listen to prog," Alder told Noisecreep. "It's too 'all over the place.' My mind doesn't work that way. I have the Used in my CD player right now. But with Fates and Redemption, the melodies are cool. If it sticks in someone's head, you can get past musicians vomiting all over themselves! [Laughs] Musicians are impressed by that in the prog scene, but for me, it has to be melodic and has to stick on your head. There has to be a chorus and what you come back to and that is what Redemption does well. Nick [Van Dyk] writes some good music!"

The friendship between Alder and Van Dyk is what drives Redemption's melodic charge. "We know each other well," Alder said. "We're best friends and he knows my range, what I like and we work well together and as long as there is melody, that's what we do best." Despite admitting he isn't an ardent prog fan, Alder does have a respect for the genre in which he traffics and doesn't consider himself meandering in some prog ghetto! "We are all over the place, but I do appreciate prog for what it is," he said. "Redemption is a prog band. It's funny. I thought I would get into something completely different from Fates if I joined another band, but I didn't!"

'Snowfall on Judgment Day' is out via Inside Out.