Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Regardless of anybody’s opinion of where prog-metal might be going these days, it is still the grassroots sound of it that rules. With this trio of musicians, Lance King (Balance of Power, among many others) on vocals Jonah Weingarten (Pyramaze) on Keys, and Yan Leviathan on guitar (at the main core); Avian offers a straightforward approach to the melodic force known as epic progressive metal.
Highly comparable to what Rage might sound like if Jordan Rudess was in the band, maybe add a little Arena, Vanden Plas, and of course Balance of Power. With that mix, there is this grinding hard edged “rockin’” vibe to the album, where textures of keyboard overtones balancing the guitar counterweight to obviously make ‘From the Depths of Time’ a melodic force to create a whole new standard for ‘thinking mans metal.’
Encompassing sub-symphonic glory with ‘Final Frontier,’ moody dark emotion on ‘Time Is All We Need,’ sophisticated metallic edge with the Rising Force reminiscent title track, utmost heaviness with the Preist-ish ‘Blinding Force,” and even AOR tinges with ‘As the World Burns,’ Avian have more to offer than just drawn out compositions. They put a large hierarchy & passion in their musical stance that is tough to match.
Featuring special guests Dave Ellefson on Bass (who is also co-producer), David Small on drums, and axeman Roger Moore playing all of the solos, ‘From the Depths of Time’ is an album that features all the catchiness, hooks, technical guitar solos, and strong songwriting/arrangements that anyone could ask for. Trust me, this record is up there with ‘Operation: Mindcrime’ and ‘Images and Words.’
- ytsejam.com webzine
Hard to believe I just discovered this band. I was cruising MySpace.com looking for new bands to feature on my radio show EUROTRIP when I stumbled on these guys. I consider it my good fortune taking into account how good this debut album is and who is in the band. AVIAN was founded by guitarist Yan Leviathan, who was supposedly inspired to form a new band after catching a progressive festival a couple of years back. Now maybe he wasn't the only one who felt such inspiration watching some of the worlds best progressive bands, but not many others that I could name could then go out and recruit the likes of singer Lance King (BALANCE OF POWER, PYRAMAZE) and bassist Dave Ellefson (MEGADETH, F5) to assist him with his vision. With that kind of talent you better come with the goods, and thankfully AVIAN does.AVIAN plays exactly the kind of progressive power metal that I enjoy. They keep the time changes to a minimum and the guitars with a consistent crunch. Two of my favorite progressive albums of the last few years have been BALANCE OF POWER's Heathen Machine (which was thier first without King on vocals) and MAGNITUDE 9's Decoding the Soul (which featured new BALANCE OF POWER and SECTION 16 singer Corey Brown) and From the Depths of Time matches up very favorably to both of them. They keep the sound full because of the excellent work of the rhythm section of Ellefson, drummer David Small and keyboardist Jonah Weingarten (PYRAMAZE). Their efforts are a pleasant wave that washes across Leviathan's riffs in a wonderful mix. Guitar solos are handled fantastically by Roger Moore in keeping with progressive virtuosos like Rob Johnson and John Petrucci. All this is so well done in fact that at times they almost drown out the awesome voice of Lance King. He seems a little dialed back in the mix, nowhere near as dynamic as he sounded on say, Perfect Balance. That would be my only complaint actually, this man can seriously soar when unleashed and I was hoping to hear some of that here.There are simply no bad songs on this album. There is also no real ballads, which is a nice touch. Instead they change the pacing of the tracks throughout the album and keep the album flowing smoothly. The album is almost an hour long, but it goes down so smooth that it is over before you know it. I have spun this CD constantly since it arrived and it just keeps getting better. Like most great progressive albums you will keep discovering different nuances each time you listen to it.PITRIFF RATING - 9/10 - I have to tip my cap to Yan Levaithan for getting the inspiration for this band and then following through on that inspiration. Same goes for Ellefson, I have never heard him play on a project that is this melodic. He and King are also credited with production credits on the album. Here is to hoping that this is not just a one time collaboration. The progressive power scene could have just found a new star. - Pittrif Webzine
Discography
From The Depths of Time (LP)
Released world wide October 2005 via Massacre, Nightmare, and Hot Rockin' Records
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
The official band biography:
Guitarist Yan Leviathan, who had been in several local bands over the years, but never anything remotely serious, formed Avian in November of 2002 after being inspired by Progpower USA III in Atlanta, Ga. The two-day festival featured performances by Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, Edguy, and a number of other fantastic bands, most of which were making their U.S. debuts.
Feeling extremely inspired, on the flight back home, Yan decided to concentrate all of his attention and efforts to creating a band that combined all of the best elements of the great European metal bands and the classic U.S. metal bands. As soon as he arrived home, Yan essentially locked himself in his studio and began writing songs. Before long, he had a couple of songs completed and began looking around for the right studio in which to record them in.
Yan eventually ended up in a studio named The Saltmine, which is located in Phoenix, Arizona. While speaking with the owner, Don Salter, Yan had mentioned to him that he was looking for a bass player and a drummer to help him with the recording. Don mentioned to Yan that he was a good friend of David Ellefsons (ex-Megadeth, F5) and that he would ask him if he would be interested in the project. Obviously, Yan was very excited at the possibility of working with such a well-known and highly respected musician such as David. A couple of days later, a meeting was arranged between Yan and David. In the meeting, Yan explained to David what his goal was and David seemed interested. The meeting ended with David receiving a very rough demo of one of the songs and it was agreed that he would listen to it and decide if he would like to commit to the project. A couple more days passed and David called Yan and told him that he really liked the song (Final Frontier) and that they should record it ASAP. It was also agreed that David would produce the sessions in addition to playing bass on the songs.
The following week, Yan, and David, along with a session drummer, met in the studio and recorded the song during a 10-hour session. At the end of a very long day, the guys realized that they had created something pretty special and that they needed to record another song right away. Yan played David a new song he had written (Queen of the Insane) which excited David very much. The two agreed that they would meet again in a couple of weeks to record it. This process, which began in December of 2002, continued through September 2003; every few weeks, the guys would get together in the studio and record a song, sometimes two.
During that time, Yan and David had many discussions on who should sing on the songs. During one of those discussions, David had mentioned the name, Lance King. After listening to some of Lances work with previous bands, most notably, Balance of Power, the two immediately realized that Lance would be a perfect fit for Avian. David contacted Lance and explained to him what he and Yan were doing. Lance seemed interested and was sent two songs to record vocals on. When Yan and David heard Lances vocals over the songs, they were blown away and immediately asked Lance if he would do all of the songs. Since Lance and David had previously discussed working together at some point in the future, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so and Lance signed on to do all of the vocals on the album.
At that point, what had begun as a demo project for Yan, escalated within a few short months into a major recording production with world-class musicians on board.
By early 2004, the majority of the songs were recorded and ready for mixing. It was then decided between the three guys that a keyboard player should be brought on to add some atmosphere to the album. Lance suggested his Pyramaze band mate Jonah Weingarten. Yan spoke with Jonah on the phone and the two agreed that Jonah would fly out to Yans home studio (Yanmonster Studio)
to record the keys. The two locked themselves away for 7 straight days working 15 hours each day and managed to write and record all of the parts within that time span.
All that remained as far as recording was concerned, was the guitar solos. A number of specialists were considered, some even auditioned but none really stood out. Lance mentioned his good friend Roger Moore. The two were together in a band called Gemini, which achieved moderate success in the mid nineties. As soon as the guys heard Roger play, they knew he was their man. Roger worked on his solos at Lances home studio (Nightmare Studio) during the second half of 2004.
Around that time, the guys had to decide on who would mix the album. Lance suggested to Yan and David that perhaps he should do it since he had prior experience working on the Balance of Power albums. Yan and David agreed to let Lance have a shot at it and realized they had made a very wise decision as soon as they received some of the initial mixes back from Lance.
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