Book review – Destination Onward: The Story of Fates Warning by Jeff Wagner

By PERRY GRAYSON

DESTINATION Onward is an utterly exhaustive labor of love by a true metal expert.

Anything you could possibly want to know about prog metal patriots Fates Warning is included in this gargantuan 384 page bio book. Wagner is no stranger to the realm of heavy metal – he was a staff writer for the U.S. print mag Metal Maniacs in the 1990s and rose to become the maniacal editor of said legendary publication. He is also the author of the exploratory prog metal volume, Mean Deviation (2010) and a bio of the late Type O Negative frontman, Peter Steele – Soul on Fire (2014).

As for the band itself, they have been in the prog trenches for four decades. They are frequently ranked in top 10 lists by their prog peers and Fates’ influential 1986 album Awaken the Guardian stands tall as a majestic metal milestone.
Whether you’re new to the Fates canon or a fiendish follower from the early 1980s, Destination Onward is sure to impress with facts and tales about one of the stalwart progenitors of progressive heavy metal. Wagner delves into the personal lives of nearly everyone involved in the Fates fold – from mainstay guitarist Jim Matheos to singers John Arch and Ray Alder, Joe DiBiase (bass), Victor Arduini (guitar), Steve Zimmerman (drums), Frank Aresti (guitar), Mark Zonder (drums) and Joey Vera (bass) – even newer members of this prog juggernaut such as Bobby Jarzombek (drums).
Destination Onward also dives into many of the peripheral projects of Fates members, including Arch/Matheos, OSI, Redemption, Engine, Tuesday the Sky and Kings of Mercia.
Wagner even gets neck-deep into what axeman Jim Matheos endured as a malcontent young metalhead who actually ran away from home as a teenager. As Wagner puts it, the Matheos clan “ping-ponged” from state to state for much of his early life. Judging from his lyric and music compositions, I was initially led to believe that Matheos must have excelled as a student. Wagner quickly dispels this notion in Destination Onward, revealing Matheos as a self-directed auteur of music and the written word.

He simultaneously devoured Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Rush, Pink Floyd and Gentle Giant, as well as the work of literary men such as Edgar Allan Poe, Conrad Aiken, Jean-Paul Sartre and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Not the typical fare consumed by a young man who actually lived on the street, however briefly.

For a high school dropout, the inspirations of young Matheos are anything but simplistic. And, on a John Arch angle, Wagner dredges up the mystic
machinations of a truly unique metal maven, including the genesis of the emotionally steeped lyrics of “Guardian” – a tune about a person dreaming through a coma:
“Karen’s been asleep forever
I know she hears me
She has so much to say
The machine shoots sparks through her egg shell mind
Tears stream from her face
Unto my hand, unto my heart
I’m a fire without a flame
Helpless child without a name
With broken wings, catch me I’m falling
I’m a question with no answer
Who are you that takes my life away from me
Unveil the boundaries of the black”

Wagner’s book is comprehensive and well-researched, featuring many anecdotes gleaned during thorough band interviews and arcane meanderings from mags such as Metal Forces and Kerrang!. On an extremely personal sidenote, Jeff Wagner’s handiwork brought back fond memories of hobnobbing with Fates members at Mark Zonder’s studio (Bill’s Place), during the recording of the debut Destiny’s End album Breathe Deep the Dark in early 1998.

If you’ve ever marvelled over the proggy music of Rush, ELP, King Crimson, Yes, Wishbone Ash, Savatage, Queensryche and Dream Theater, this book is a must-have.