Italian progressive metallers Atomixynergy return with their second demo, which is entitled "To Reflect Human Patterns", to warm us, just before they enter the studio for the recordings of their first album. The band is into contemporary progressive metal, which means a lot of influences from Pain of Salvation and Dream Theater. Compared to their previous demo, they have injected some more aggressive parts, plus some Opeth influences. Now this doesn't mean they lost their melodic substance or introduced growing vocals. On the contrary they enhanced it, as the Opeth influences are applied to their calm and melodic lines, such as those found in the beautiful "Universe without a Fence".

In their previous effort "Liquid Light in Abyss" we had noted the necessity of improving two things, namely the vocals and the production. A progress has been made in both sections, but not the one that would be ideal. This means that Andrea Romano's vocals have been improved and now he sings more passionate, but the production still remains in shallow waters. Being a progressive metal band means that you need good production to highlight ideas and performance. The production, though improved I repeat, still is a problem for the band, especially regarding the guitars and the keyboards. The other thing that needs some care taking is the influences. I understand admiration to several great bands of our times, but trying to sound like them is a hazardous approach, that might give wrong impressions. For example, while the opening track "Happiness Like a Mask" has some excellent themes, the whole atmosphere is annoyingly Pain of Salvation-like.

Atomixynergy have shown their potential and the good ideas they have in many instanced, like in "Proiezioni Astrali", but should also try to persuade us for their own identity, which is a significant criterion in people's judgement. They are on the right track and hopefully this new endeavour will help them get prepared for their first album.