Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band,[1] formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman.

A pioneer of the progressive metal movement, Fates Warning has been referred to as one of the "Big Three" of the genre, creating and popularizing the style along with Queensrÿche and Dream Theater.

The Spectre Within (1985) featured a more progressive approach with songs like "The Apparition", "Epitaph", "Pirates of the Underground" and "Traveler in Time", with many tempo changes, a greater complexity in the arrangements, and fantasy lyrics full of symbolism and double meaning.

[11] During this period, Fates Warning had become a live staple in the East Coast and Midwest areas of the US, sharing the stage with numerous bands like Motörhead, Queensrÿche, Anthrax, Overkill, Anvil and Armored Saint.

[12] In 1986, original guitarist Victor Arduini was dismissed from the band and was replaced by Frank Aresti, and the third Fates Warning album, Awaken the Guardian, was released in November of that year.

[16] Awaken the Guardian also made history by becoming the first album released on Metal Blade to enter the Billboard 200 chart,[8] and saw Fates Warning sharing the stage with bands like Queensrÿche and Saxon.

No Exit gave Fates Warning their highest chart position to date on the Billboard 200, entering at number 111 and staying on the chart for thirteen weeks;[8] it also helped build the band's popularity worldwide, with the videos for "Anarchy Divine" and "Silent Cries" receiving considerable airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball,[17] and Fates Warning touring almost non-stop in support of the album, playing with bands like Krokus, Savatage, Armored Saint and Flotsam and Jetsam.

[12] Following the tour in support of No Exit, original drummer Steve Zimmerman left the band in 1988 and was replaced by Mark Zonder, just as Fates Warning was preparing for their fifth studio album.

Perfect Symmetry was full of extremely complex arrangements and an unusual and very articulated rhythm section,[18] and is often regarded as a seminal prog metal album, "which laid the foundations of the sound of the 90s".

[19] Kevin Moore (keyboardist for Dream Theater at the time) was featured as a guest on the song "At Fate's Hands", while the cover was designed by Hugh Syme, famous for his work with the Canadian progressive rock band Rush.

Although Perfect Symmetry was not as successful as No Exit, the album nonetheless charted for nine weeks on the Billboard 200,[8] while its only music video "Through Different Eyes" managed to get some airplay on Headbangers Ball.

The album, which started the collaboration with Rush producer Terry Brown, contains more accessible and streamlined songs than in the past, except for tracks such as "The Eleventh Hour" and "Life in Still Water", which features guest vocals by James LaBrie (who had just joined Dream Theater).

Just like Parallels, Inside Out entered the Top 10 on Billboard Heatseekers chart in spite of little or no airplay due to the increasing popularity of grunge and alternative,[24] and following its release, the band opened for Dream Theater in the U.S. and Europe on their Awake tour.

Written as a concept album, A Pleasant Shade of Gray revealed a much darker and bleaker mood in writing style than had been heard before from the band.

The album consists of a single 53-minute song split into twelve parts, making it the longest track Fates Warning has ever recorded.

[citation needed] In 2010, Fates Warning played select dates with the Parallels lineup (Alder, Matheos, Zonder, Aresti and DiBiase) to celebrate the reissued, remastered and expanded edition of the classic album.

[27][28][29] To celebrate the album's 30th anniversary, the Awaken the Guardian lineup (Arch, Matheos, Aresti, DiBiase and Zimmerman) reunited for a headlining appearance at the Keep It True festival in Germany on April 30, 2016.

"[35] On February 15, 2019, it was announced that Fates Warning had re-signed to Metal Blade Records, and planned to begin working on a new album, for a 2020 release, after their spring tour with Queensrÿche.

"[38] It was announced on August 25, 2020, that the album was titled Long Day Good Night and would be released on November 6, 2020,[10][39] just two weeks after Punching the Sky by Vera's other band Armored Saint.

"[41] In an interview with Prog magazine a few months later, Alder reiterated that Matheos does not want to write new material as Fates Warning, but added, "That could change, I don't know, you'd have to talk to him.