Phase Transition – In Search of Being (Album Review) – The Prog Report

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Phase Transition – In Search of Being (Album Review)
05/19/2025

Review of the album from Phase Transition – ‘In Search of Being,’ out on June 6th, 2025.

by Amit Pedel
What might seem like a minimal trio, Phase Transition, from Portugal, is actually a powerful nucleus which features drummer Fernando Maia, the guitarist Luís Dias, and Sofia Beco, on violin and vocals. The trio blends intricate musicianship with a dynamic range of influences, drawing from the technical prowess of Dream Theater and the heavy intensity of bands like Opeth. Their music is a fusion of powerful riffs, soaring vocals, and melodic violin passages, creating a unique soundscape that bridges the gap between progressive metal and melodic storytelling. Formed during their university years, along with their Dream Theater-prog tribute band, they aim to challenge the boundaries of the genre with their new 5 track album, ‘In Search of Being.’
The album opens on “Dichotomy” a tightly packed song which starts with an ominous intro that surprisingly enough dives right into an modern hardcore tonal sphere with a super crisp bass and power chords with 9’s added in them – That’s that emotional power chord you hear in your head when you yell at your folks that this is not a phase – however it’s the violin which surprisingly joins in and gives this modern sound an interesting angle. We’ve got some more middle eastern harmonies sneaking in between the different harmonic parts.
The band takes on the challenging task of balancing all these ambitious musical avenues, and different harmonic parts while trying to maintain the vocals and lyrics at the forefront of the track. They sail through the tune with another triumphant guitar solo that peaks into a chunky 7/4 part which twists back into powerful 4/4 low string riffage which cements and seals the song with a powerful ending.
The first single and next track, “Becoming, (R)evolution” utilizes those 7 strings well as we descend from drop D down to drop B and blast away as the band chugs away into more intro modern prog-metal realm with some crispy vocals and electronic embellishments. We got some old school vocal text reciting over a tight drum part played by Maia’s. We then have two interesting and different solos starting with a shreddy guitar solo by Dias and then refreshing arpeggiated violin solo by Beco as the group hits into a stank-face half time groove.
“Veil Of Illusions” begins with an ambitious intro and tight chops. We are then pointed right into Beco’s vocals. Her voice is a refreshing addition to the prog genre which is oftenly fronted by male vocalists. Her native dialect is pleasantly present within the text which is sung in English. There’s a great mixture between Beco’s vocals along with the group’s modern prog-metal sound.
Halfway into the song as Maia and Dias lead us from the chorus into a burning solo through a musical part which echoes Dream Theater’s ‘The Mirror’, you can feel the band’s love and appreciation of Pettrruci and Portnoy throughout these recordings. Dias’ then plays a fantastic solo which comically glimpses in their video as a ‘Hot Guitar Licks’ instructional shred clip. The strongest quality of the tune is that it feels like a consistent song with a clear lyrical and melodic form, along with some 7 string power riffs and double bass action of course.
“Shadows of Grief” begins with an intro that fondly reminds me of ‘The Silent Man’. I’ve heard a lot of great interesting influences in Phase Transition’s vocabulary, but I strongly hear ‘Awake’ more than others. This tune breathes more and has more space in comparison to the rest of the recording in this batch. There’s a powerful chorus which combines the acoustic side of the band along with rich distorted guitar chords chugging away. We then have Maia leading us with a gushing drum fill into a unison of violin and guitar. Dias gives us one of his most interesting guitar solo on the recording as we then dive in down one last time with Beco on violin and a quiet piano alongside her. I hear tons of love to ‘Images and Words’ but more importantly – Beco begins to sing in Portuguese which sounds terrific with the walls of distortion and powerful drumming. The last few lyrical verses that sign off the tune are reminding us that life is short and that we should make the most out of them. And indeed we should, all of this is taking place together with a relentless guitar part by Dias who’s definitely making the most out of his time in this section.
The closing track, “Other Side” starts with an acoustic guitar strumming away in 6/8 rhythm which abruptly twists away and takes us to far heavier territories which reminded me of early ‘Opeth’ recordings such as ‘Demon of the fall’. We’ve got blast beats on the drums and death metal riffs as Maia & Dias go heavy with dissonance notes, growls, screams, and all around fierce metal playing. Beco joins in with a clearer vocal part which quickly shifts into a violin death metal passage as the guitar and violin grid in unison. The tune is a 9 min presentation of the groups range as they shift back and forth between soft melodies and acoustic parts which are presented back to back with their heaviest riffs and drum parts. The violin and guitar busy unison part sweeps us into another solo section featuring both Beco and Dias in all their shreddy glory. The evil riffage takes a back seat as the group sign off the tune with an epic guitar solo and a powerful massive chorus.
Phase Transition bring their own unique spin on modern prog-metal with an efficient core of three very capable musicians who are exploring many new directions in the genre. They’re tipping the hat to all of their musical heroes and I hope to hear more of them as they transition to a new phase in their music and give us more of their own voice.

 
Tracklisting:
1.Dichotomy
2.Becoming, (R)evolution
3.Veil of Illusions
4.Shadows of Grief
5.The Other Side
Vocals, Violin: Sofia Beco
Guitar: Luís Dias
Drums: Fernando Maia
Order here: https://phasetransitionofficial.com/product/1071961-in-search-of-being-cd-pre-order

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