An (almost) all instrumental affair from this cosmopolitan neo-prog rock band.
With
'Satellite Bay' it's all about the groove. Tracks like '
Fire In The Mountain' and '
Jungfernflug' (me neither) are filled with colourful, ambient swirls of guitars, bass heavy loops and frequent percussive punctuation, all of which build to an explosion of heavy, droning guitars and a pulsing metallic stomp.
The formula becomes repetitive after a while, as only music created solely from jam sessions can be.
Variation comes in the form of the band's secondary form of build up, utilising skewed psychedelic guitar doodles, embellished by busy but uncluttered rhythms.
'Aurora' survives four minutes of this before launching into a thick cut, heavy metal riff, spiced with spiralling synths and a sparse, processed vocal.
'
Horizon' and
'Swallow The Water' are synchronisations of rock, pulsing electronics and sturdy, riff laden melodies. Understated for much of the time and arguably crying out for a more bombastic approach in places, they need a little more light and shade to be truly affecting.
On a positive note, at an average track length of over 8 minutes, there's plenty of time and opportunity for the band to really explore the music they've written. Problem is, they don't take up that opportunity very often. Yes, they're happy to take a guitar motif or a few bars of melody on a long walk through ambient soundscapes, but the scenery doesn't change much and there are disappointingly few detours into unfamiliar territory.
Only the doom laden '
The Very Last Day' - a sinister but compelling mixture of tone and rhythm, and the downbeat melody of '
Built Without Hands' create any kind of real emotional connection, or maybe I just didn't listen hard enough to the others.
Interesting.
Written by
Brian Sunday, September 16, 2007
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