Alteration is the debut album by Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n/Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n band Altera Enigma

Altera Enigma

Altera Enigma is an experimental death metal supergroup formed by Jason De Ron, the former guitarist and front man of Paramaecium, and Jefray Arwadi, former guitarist, vocalist, and front man of Kekal. Both of these musicians have a career that has seen them record and release nearly 20 albums...

, recorded over 2 years and released on January, 2006. The emotional and sophisticated style found on the album drew comparisons to Liquid Tension Experiment

Liquid Tension Experiment

Liquid Tension Experiment is an instrumental progressive rock/metal supergroup, founded by Dream Theater's former drummer Mike Portnoy in 1997. The band has released two albums through Magna Carta Records...

, Gordian Knot

Gordian Knot (band)

Gordian Knot is an American progressive rock/metal band directed by bass guitarist Sean Malone. At times its shifting lineup has included Steve Hackett of Genesis, Bill Bruford of King Crimson and Yes, Ron Jarzombek from Watchtower and Spastic Ink as well as Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, several of...

, and Cynic

Cynic (band)

Cynic is an American progressive rock band, incorporating experimental music, alternative, metal and jazz fusion elements, founded in Miami, Florida and currently based in Los Angeles, California. Their first album, Focus, released on September 14, 1993, is widely regarded as a landmark release of...

.

A music video was released for the bonus/outtake track "Perpetual Motion".

Style

Alteration mainly features a mixture of progressive metal

Progressive metal

Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...

 and jazz fusion

Jazz fusion

Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...

, but contains many other diverse musical styles such as electronica

Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

 and dark ambient

Dark ambient

Dark ambient is a subgenre of ambient music that features foreboding, ominous, or discordant overtones. Although it had its roots in the 1970s, Dark ambient emerged in the 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of newer, smaller, and more affordable Effects units, synthesizer and sampling technology...

. Jason DeRon has stated in an interview that while he does not like the term "progressive metal", he feels that it is the closest description that can be used.

Track listing

1. "Enigmatic Alteration" — 9:41
2. "The Infinite Horizon" — 5:21
3. "Pasivitas Sudut Pandang" — 3:46
4. "Fading" — 5:39
5. "NGC 3370" — 6:27
6. "Skyward (Outer Atmosphere)" — 5:22
7. "Relating The Transformation" — 7:37
8. "Unlimited Reality" — 3:12
9. "Through Glass, Darkly" — 5:41
10. "Perpetual Motion" (Outtake/bonus track) — 6:14

Line-up

• Jason DeRon - guitars
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  , bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , keyboard
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , fx
  Sound effect
  For the album by The Jam, see Sound Affects.Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media...
  
  , samples
  Sampling (music)
  In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
  
  , additional vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Jefray Arwadi - guitars
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  , vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , samples
  Sampling (music)
  In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
  
  
• Kenny Cheong - fretless bass

Additional Credits:

• Paul Reeves - additional rhythm guitars on "NGC 3370" and "Unlimited Reality"
• Safrina Arwadi - additional vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
   on "Pasivitas Sudut Pandang"
• Jefray Arwadi/Soundmind Graphics - Cover design, artwork & layout

External links

• Interview with Powermetal.de (in German)
• Alteration at Metal-Archives.