Alley is a Russian band from Krasnoyarsk, that was formed back in December 2005. In 2007 the guys started to work on a demo. Further musical development and progress led to the creation of another three compositions for their seven-song debut full-length, The Weed. Their release show was filmed and recorded for a possible DVD release, but let us first discuss The Weed, shall we?

With The Weed, these guys wants us to believe they play progressive death metal. After listening just once to this record I already could strike out the ‘progressive’ part though. In Holland we have a motto, which roughly means in English: “It’s better to steal something good than to invent something bad”. The problem is that these four guys have taken this proverb a bit too literally while writing the six tracks for their debut album. Every song on The Weed is a major Opeth rip-off.

To call them a coverband isn’t the right way to describe Alley, ‘cause that would undermine Opeth’s brilliant music. I guess Alley’s songs are on the same level as the songs Opeth records after an afternoon jamming. The foundation is there, but they still haven’t got the elements that could make a song unique, stand out or even hold your attention for its full length.