b o b

This band was one of my favorites at ProgDay '98. Brandon Wu's review of this disc calls it one of the few truly progressive metal releases, and I'd say the same of the band at ProgDay - they were one of the few truly progressive bands that played that year. It's almost impossible to describe this band's music, because it never holds still for more than a minute or so. The overall sound is heavy, and the guitar dominates, but repeated listenings bring out a lot of nice keyboard work as well. One question though is - why does the band feature a French Horn player? He's rarely audible on the band's albums, and spent most of the ProgDay set with his horn in his lap. If you like heavy music with some complexity and frantic shifts in style and pace, give this disc (or the follow-up Eclissi) a try. Just don't expect typical, melodic Italian prog. review by Bob Eichler — undated —

b r a n d o n

If ever there was a truly progressive metal band, this is it. But don't get me wrong; except for some heavy, metal-ish electric guitar riffing, this is not heavy metal music. The obvious comparison is to Deus Ex Machina without the strong vocals, and with a heavier guitar presence but a sparser instrumentation overall. In other words: they are very spastic, with lots of stop-and-go sections, constant theme changes, and lots of complexity. This is apparently a concept album, but as the lyrics are in Italian, I can't really tell the difference... all I can say is that the first track is the best IMHO. This is probably not a band you'll really like the first time you hear them (unless you've heard Deus Ex Machina before), but they grow on you. Quiet, keyboard- and acoustic guitar-led sections meld into powerful crunchy-guitar led instrumental sections. Everything fits together fairly well, though if I had to cite one reason I don't listen to this as much as I could, it would be because I find it a little disjointed. In any case, don't let the metallic guitar turn you off - this is a good band, as progressive as most any other band that's active today. review by Brandon Wu — undated —