Fates Warning Re-Wired: A Chat with Ray Alder
by Martin Popoff

"Well, as you know, Fates Warning has a bit of a dark cloud over us," laughs Fates Warning vocalist Ray Alder, intimating more about the band's career than he would like to admit.

You see, the perception out there is that this New Hampshire/L.A./Long Island conglomerate has long suffered just to the left of bands like Queensryche, Dream Theater, Rush, even Savatage. But the fact of the matter is that Fates has run a solid, deliberate ship, clocking sales of 100,000+ worldwide each time out, and more importantly, methodically garnering and gathering the respect of fans and industry insiders as their catalogue grows to epic proportions.

Hence the title of the band's 12th album, Disconnected, which given the band's generally positive disposition, points to as many connections as it does disconnections. Especially when it comes to Alder's lyrical work, a rare occurrence given the dominance of guitarist Jim Matheos in that department.

But Alder agrees with the observation that this is one of the doomier Fates Warning records, at least musically. "The music has always had a dark vibe or aura. It's somewhat depressing, although we are the opposite, generally fairly happy individuals. And this record is much darker than A Pleasant Shade Of Gray, which had a lot more ups and downs, so to speak, faster parts and slower parts. I think this album is generally a lot heavier and like I say darker. Although the lyrics on Disconnected are not so dark; they are actually a little more uplifting."

Fates Warning Re-Wired: A Chat with Ray Alder Page 2