Music
Press
...If you are a fan of progressive rock or metal you need this album. It's the best example of the genre since Threshold's Dead Reckoning and by far the best this year. The first half is astonishing, the second half mostly excellent. Looking beyond the complex compositions there are some obscenely catchy tunes on Innergy. It took a lot of listening to get into the album, nonetheless the music is still very open and accessible... as far as prog metal goes. The older albums by Forgotten Suns do nothing for me. Innergy pushes all the right buttons in all the right ways. It would be fair to say that Forgotten Suns have got both feet firmly on the none-tramp side of that arête! - Rock Realms
...Then Forgotten Suns made a remarkable musical turn for the better with the outstanding and infinitely more accessible 'Doppelganger.' This piece was stirring only because I felt all members and instruments were well represented from beginning to end. The arrangement was still varied and complex as one would expect in prog, but measurably more dynamic and satisfying then what had proceeded. Much the same could be said for 'An Outer Body Experience' and 'Outside In.' On both I was fascinated by the clever and often fiery guitar work. However, what ultimately made these three songs work is natural beauty of creativity that progressive rock or metal allows...
- Danger Dog
...The album opens strongly with “Flashback” and “Racing the Hours”; this is perhaps where the Pain of Salvation influence is most evident. “News” features some daft narration about floods, earthquakes and typical end-of-days calamities, but if you can get past that there are some really nice moments. “Outside In” is an epic track with a long instrumental mid-section. Band members trade tasty solos, but I’m not sure if they really serve the song itself; these kind of embellishments I feel would have been more at home in the live setting. “Nanoworld” and “Mind Over Matter” close out the album with more of the same. This is, overall, a very strong album. By album’s end, though, I felt Nio should have taken more chances in the vocals in order to differentiate himself from the thousands of other prog metal vocalists out there. The same could be said musically; I think the band perhaps put too much distance from their earlier sound. A few more atmospheric passages would have helped break up this testosterone-driven album. But those are minor quibbles – if you like bands like Pain of Salvation, Wastefall and Fates Warning, you will find much to like on this release! - Usa Prog Music
Their name might have been inspired by good ol' Marillion, but prog rock they are not. Not anymore, at least. Forgotten Suns has evolved into a metal band--a metal band that does not pull its punches. On Innergy, their third release to date and their first to feature vocalist Nio Nunes, the progressive-minded ensemble has opted to go all out. A bit of restraint here and there would have done the album some good, yet there is still much to like. The technical capabilities of the band members are rock solid. On top of that, they clearly know how to string strong moments together: Utilizing just about every trick in the Great Book of Prog, Forgotten Suns deliver exhilarating instrumental sections that, at times, rival those of more famed prog outfits. They make room for melody as well, keys being put to generous use--and they're not just spewing off your perfunctory synth licks, either. Innergy even manages to nail "groovy" when necessary, like in the beginning of "News"...
- Metal Revolution
...This is a great band, in most every way, all the instrumentation is top quality, the singer has a very solid voice, pleasing to the ears, and the writing is mature, sophisticated and, well progressive. If the bands' previous recordings have not placed them amoung the progmetal staples of the world, this cd certainly should, everything is very well done here, very highly recommended for the fans of the kind of progmetal that keeps your ears at attention. The cd is a display of sound and performance quality, each song has it's own personality, something which many bands are not capable of pulling off, yet there is no question that the musical prowess of each of Forgotten Suns members is of that rare quality that allows them to stretch the boundaries of the progressive aspects of their music, that many bands are not capable of transcending. Very refreshing to hear such a display of musicianship paired with high standards of writing. - Proggnosis
Forgotten Sons are from Portugal and this is their 3rd CD releases since 2000 and apparently the first with new vocalist Nio. This is what you would call progressive metal music, with a dark theme and some keyboards, which accent all sides of the music but don’t dominate. The CD features 8 tracks in 61 minutes, so that is an average of over 7 mins a track. The band takes its time and uses quite complex arrangements with as many keyboard solos and guitar solos, maybe more. My only complain with the record was the very digital sound of the production. IT was just too sharp and lacked depth and richness in the sound. Maybe I just don’t listen to enough heavy metal these days. Some of the tracks really reminded me of Iron Maiden at times. Doppelganger is a really great song. Somehow I just got sucked into that one. Very good and tight playing by all members and some impressive drumming at times. Probably the best prog metal from Portugal.
- Low Cut
FORGOTTEN SUNS used to be a progressive and symphonic rock band, playing in the same playground as bands such as PINK FLOYD, MARILLION or RUSH (according to the bio sent by the label), but they obviously turned into a very powerful progressive heavy metal act. Indeed, this "Innergy" sounds quite far from above-mentioned bands and far closer to the latest ELDRITCH efforts, that is sort of an overboosted SYMPHONY X. The 8 tracks of this new release are some incredibly good songs with both splendid melodies and very technical playing. Each song's got a huge density made of great riffs sometimes almost thrashy, polyrhythmics passages, powerful singing and hallucinating solos, so that "Innergy" is probably one of the best progressive release of 2009 so far and it will undoubtly remain as one of the greatest progressive heavy metal album of this year.
- Metal Universe
Discography
Fiction Edge (2000)
Snooze (2004)
Innergy (2009)
Photos
Bio
The future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams...
The band hails from Portugal (Lisboa) and their path so far can be divided in two distinct directions.
From the original quintet there's only two remaining members – guitar player Ricardo Falcão and keyboard wizard Miguel Valadares. The musical chemistry between them sets the foundations of what Forgotten Suns is all about – exquisite song writing level melted with the inner technical demands that progressive music is usually flavored.
The first half of their biography yielded two albums – Fiction Edge(2000) and Snooze(2004) who were early sons born out of the band's musical growth in an adverse context. Even though yet with a blatantly lack of production, those albums were highly appreciated by the media and especially in the prog community by their strong melodic approach and song writing.
Musically speaking, the main purpose of the band is to do evolutionary albums under the progressive style and fulfill a lifetime dream through music with focus on high quality live and studio performances.
In the early beginnings the band was seriously driven and influenced by the melodic power and song writing of bands like Pink Floyd, Rush and Marillion (from whom they inspired themselves to create the band’s altered name) and also from the heavy/progressive influences of bands like Metallica, Fates Warning, Symphony X or Dream Theater – the band's name is related also to a belief on how one can cross a lifetime by experiencing enlightenment of a spiritual nature - Music is the path.
Those 2 albums were written without having a full time drummer in the same room, so some songs naturally became less complex and more light which were perfect for the singing of ex-singer Linx. The technical and dense production side of the band was kind of sleepy due to the decision of Mike Valadares in to be out of the band for 2 long years. The arrival of drummer J.C Samora in March 2003, who still participated in the final writings of 'Snooze' was a major breakthrough at the time.
After the promotion concerts of 'Snooze' - Meet X Tour - the band decided to enter a new level of production both in studio, live and as performers.
Bass player Nuno Correia joined in on July 2005 and Miguel Valadares returned to his keyboardist role in the same week - a strong group was again together! From that moment on the band's members decided to take Forgotten Suns into a never ending ascending spiral of success and make it all happen through a new musical universe, wider and more expanded, full of new concepts and without musical boundaries.
From that desire the making of a new album was scheduled and there were no easy ways to make it happen by itself alone - a lot of work and dedication was necessary following the idea "-You receive of what you give"!
This new state of mind and musical direction led to the split with the previous singer and there were no definitive options available until the band came to find the vibrant voice of actual lead singer Nio already during the recordings of the new album. With a new singer on the ranks the band signed with ProgRock Records and the new album "INNERGY" will be on stores next 03 March 2009. 8 tracks, 63 minutes of the most heavy & progressive material up to date done by the group.
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