If you're a fan of contemporary prog rock & metal, this is one to track down with single minded determination.
Robert Amirian's high toned vocals - Jon Anderson meets James Labrie - and the energetic, tuneful vocal melodies are two of the best things about this second
Pantommind release from mainman Peter Christ.
'Lunasense' is not particularly sophisticated but it doesn't lack subtlety.
Christ has pieced it together like one giant patchwork quilt, full of guitar shapes and keyboard colours - punctuated by digitally enhanced rhythms - that are generally a perfect match, but are occasionally and deliberately jarring and discordant.
Christ rations the latter to just enough to greatly heighten the effect of the former.
Instrumental 'Transmission Part 1' is an inauspicious start, neither delivering nor promising anything special, other than a technically proficient workout, with keyboards and guitars set to warp speed.
'Erasable Tears' raises the tempo and the stakes. It takes a fairly direct route through a prog rock labyrinth, spurred on by spiky axework, sudden time changes and a barrage of pounding bass lines. It is here that we first encounter Amirian. His vocals suddenly take off mid track, like an airplane with vertical lift, soaring ever higher, before the burn, plotting a jet trail through Christ's busy musical arrangement.
'Wolf', 'Letter To No One' and 'Blank' are all relatively aggressive beasts, occasionally going for the jugular, wielding wiry, case hardened melodies. Christ temporarily tames the beast from time to time, slowing the pace with peaceful piano frills and fills. A neat counterpoint to the relentlessly hard edged, bass heavy progrock rifferama that provides the fuel that feeds the fire.
If Christ can continue writing strong, fine tuned melodies - witness 'To The Days Of Old' and 'Sandglass' - and can hold on to Amirian, his next album may just be the one.
Written by
Brian Friday, May 1, 2009
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