This is an interesting progressive metal cd by the U.S four piece.
The opening track starts with some atmospheric harmonics, some jazzy understated guitar and angst ridden vocals. It seems to come to an end, then explodes into really heavy discordant riffing, manic drumming and angry singing. Then it’s back to some nice jazzy bass and guitar playing ending in more thrashing about. The next track, ‘Through The Current’ has a trippy, calm beginning. It’s quite jazzy in places, especially the drumming and bass. Then there’s more angst ridden singing, heavy guitar riffing and energetic pounding of the drums. Then, yes you guessed it, we’re back to the quieter, jazzy interlude with some good interplay between keyboards, bass and drumming. The guitarists comes in with a heavy riff and there’s desperate vocals to finish. ‘My Friend’ has a more jangly guitar sound and well-played drumming. Then that stops and we have a very melodic section with a vocal delivery full of emotion and torment and a really atmospheric guitar solo. The track ends with some heavy guitar riffing and some great drumming and bass playing.
The tracks seem to get longer each time. ‘My friend’ was seven minutes whilst track 4, ‘Run Away’ is over nine minutes long. A catchy bass line and nice guitar sustain give us our gentle introduction to the track before growling, followed by desperate, vocals kick in alongside a nice spacey guitar riff. The drumming and bass playing are as good as ever with lots of complicated time signatures. The vocals continue to be full of desperation and then anger. The final track, ‘Disappear Into Your Dream’ is 16 minutes long. It didn’t feel that long. This track started heavier, with another chunky riff, but, soon slows down with more lively drumming. The singing is even more manic on this track. There are a lot of tempo changes coming at you very quickly. There’s few stop, start rhythms and some false endings to keep you guessing about what is coming next!
This isn’t the easiest cd to listen to, but it isn’t meant to be. However, it is a thought provoking album with some very good musicianship and atmospheric vocals and is more than worth a listen if you enjoy a challenge.
Review by Chris Greenwood
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