Alpha Galates from Toronto Canada was formally known by the name of The Hollow. At least they were known in the region of Toronto by that name. During the change of some band members they decided to change the band name into Alpha Galates. With The Hollow they released 4 albums in total but A Stimulus For A Reason is their debut under the name of Alpha Galates.

 

They start with ‘Conformity’, which is to me more of an intro song than rather a song on its own. So you can say that the album really starts with ‘2 Months In’. During this song I’m really surprised since Alpha Galates does the same what bands like Opeth and Porcupine Tree did to me with their break through albums. They can grab me by the balls and constantly surprise me with mood changes, breaks and different vocal lines in one song. It’s almost impossible to hear all the things in one song during the first time that you listen to it.

 

During the second song and the rest of the album I realised that most of the songs are just as great as ‘2 Months In’. In every song Alpha Galates took the time to gave it a great body which sometimes results in songs with a total playing time of nine or eleven minutes. During those songs most of the time it’s just sitting down with my jaw dropped to the floor. These albums makes it really worthwhile to review albums.

 

It’s pretty obvious that A Stimulus For A Reason is an album that gives you so much more than the average metal band. The album is constantly exciting, renewing and mind blowing. It’s definitely not an album that you want to put on when you’re doing the weekly cleaning of your house. But it’s definitely an album that asks for a great headphone, couch and maybe a bottle of beer.