OmnisighT's Path specializes in progressive metal

Path (Warunki Media)

While it may not be entirely fair to compare a band’s debut album to the work of an act that has been going for over a quarter of a century, how you feel about Dream Theater is a pretty good measure of how much Path will interest you. Like DT, OmnisighT specializes in progressive metal, characterized by heavy riffs and melodic singing.

If you’re going to attempt this sort of thing, you’d better have chops. Fortunately, singer-guitarist Raj Krishna, drummer Chris Warunki, bassist-vocalist Dave Shannon, and guitarist Blake Rurik have ’em, and how. The best showcase here of their instrumental prowess might be “Heavy Weather”, which boasts some cleverly harmonized neoclassical riffing, a Bics-in-the-air mellow break, and some seriously demented-sounding shredding, courtesy of guest guitarist Dave Martone.

If there’s anything in short supply on Path, it’s hooks. OmnisighT does not write hit singles; I don’t imagine the nine-minutes-plus “Harmony/Shallow” will be getting too many spins on the Fox. Then again, I also don’t recall the last time a Dream Theater song cracked the Billboard 200, so the group probably knows exactly what it’s doing.