SPIRAL ARCHITECT

"Spiral Architect" is the first (and the only) demo recording by Norwegian technical/progressive metal act Spiral Architect. The demo was recorded in August 1995 and it features two tracks and total playing time of 13:16 minutes. Spiral Architect formed in 1990 as Anesthesia, but they changed their name to Spiral Architect in 1993. Especially drummer Asgeir Mickelson was busy recording and touring with artists like Scariot, Testament, Borknagar (among others), and maybe that´s why it took the band five years before they were signed by Sensory Records for the release of their January 2000 debut full-length studio album "A Sceptic's Universe".

Stylistically Spiral Architect can be described as Watchtower meets Psychotic Waltz. They are technically very well playing and their songs are complex in structure, jazz/fusion influenced, and feature almost constant rhythm and time-signature changes, but there´s also a dark almost psychedelic edge to the music, which is the element of the band´s music which keeps it grounded and slightly more melodic and memorable compared to similar artists like Watchtower and Spastic Ink. Of the two tracks "Purpose" is exclusive to this demo while "Fountainhead" would be re-recorded and included on "A Sceptic's Universe".

The performances are through the roof...and that goes for both the instrumental performances and the vocal performance by Leif J. Knashaug (who would not sing on "A Sceptic's Universe"). The bass is fusion influenced and very dominant in the soundscape, and the same can be said about the complex and technically difficult drumming. The guitar riffs can be both heavy but just as often lead theme oriented (clean guitars are also used). Both tracks on the demo are very complex in structure and you won´t find any clear vers/chorus structures here. Instead the tracks feel linear in structure, but still with a compositional plan and even some melodic hooks.

The demo features a decent but not perfect demo quality sound production. You can easily hear all details, but when you listen to the demo you immediately recognise that it´s not a professional sound production like you normally hear on a studio album. It´s still pretty well sounding though, so it´s not a major issue. Upon conclusion this is a very promising and quite challenging first demo release from Spiral Architect. Although it would take the band 5 years to released their debut album, it´s not for a lack of quality of their compositions or their performances. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Spiral Architect stand alone at the peak of tech-metal's mountain. While many criticize this release for being just an excuse to show off the musician's chops, the truth is, in my eyes anyway, that the complexity creates it's own atmosphere. It's like the best science fiction that just challenges what one knows and understands and thrusts the imagination far beyond the typical. Not every band needs to be catchy and Spiral Architect certainly isn't. Haegland's vocal lines are damn near as angular as the avant-jazz-fusion architecture as the rest of the band. But I asked myself, if I were a singer and I got a tape with this music, how would I put vocals to it? The feel here is all quantuum mechanical mysticism. It reminds me of the roots of Jazz-Fusion. Which came first, the music? Or was it the galactic feel of Return to Forever, the Eastern mysticism of Mahavishnu Orchestra. Do the concepts drive the writing process, or do you try to find concepts that line up with the crazed musical output?

The third Watchtower album! Except by a completely unrelated band!

While progressive metal had its origins in the 80s with bands like Queensryche, Fates Warning and Dream Theater bringing the fledgling metal style a greater audience, the true honor goes to the Texas based Watchtower who with their "King Crimson effect" pioneered a release that many consider the very first progressive metal album "Energetic Disassembly" all the way back in 1985. Although very few were listening, they would skip a few grades in the world of complexity just when metal was just becoming popular in the mainstream. While the style would evolve and splinter as new metal sub-genera were springing forth, very few if any bands would emulate the unique technically demanding assault of sizzling metal freneticism geeked out in more jazz infused compositional constructs at least when accompanied by high pitched vocals.

While Watchtower would release two amazingly brilliant albums during the brief run in the 80s, unfortunately very few were listening since they were well ahead of the pack and the overall public was just getting accustomed to the nascent thrash, death and black metal genres, however the techniques involved didn't go unnoticed by musicians themselves. As the 90s saw a huge evolutionary development in the metal universe, the technical aspects that had debuted with Watchtower ended up being used in the newer styles especially in the rich fertile fields of death metal which would soon develop its own technical strain of complexity. While bands like Dream Theater were more akin to symphonic prog of the 70s with more metal aspects, bands like Cynic, Voivod, Atheist, Pestilence and Death would adopt many of these jazzified technical aspects of Watchtower and run away with it.

Far away in Norway, a band called SPIRAL ARCHITECT was born when guitarist Steiner Gundersen hooked up with the remains of the band Anesthesia which included the members Kaj Gornitzka (guitar), Lars K. Norberg (bass) and Asgeir Mickelson (drums). This team of seasoned veterans had a mission and that was to recreate the progressive metal magic that occurred with a very few bands that exercised technical chops in the more traditional 80s metal style in the vein of not only Watchtower but Fates Warning and Psychotic Waltz without resorting to adopting the snarling death growls that the technical metal universe had been gravitating towards since the early 90s. While formed in 1995, it would take the band five whole years to craft their one and only album A SCEPTIC'S UNIVERSE which married the technical finger busting wizardry with the passionately delivered emotional intensity of the classics of 80s metal.

A SCEPTIC'S UNIVERSE offers both a sense of familiarity as well as stunning new mind-blowing displays of technical metal profusion where no compromise is the name of the game however the band's primary focus isn't to blow away the audience (although that does occur) but rather craft cleverly complexly constructed compositions that revolve around rather accessible melodic developments. Much like Cynic and Death, SPIRAL ARCHITECT finds the right melodic grooves to riff around and then simply offers a multitude of progressive variations that include everything from tempo shifts and bizarre dynamic changes to time signature rich angularities. With a firm grasp on not only metal sensibilities, the band incorporate the wide array of jazz influences into the mix with allows an amazing dexterity in polyrhythms and contrapuntal gymnastics that leave the listener bedazzled in disbelief.

With a keen sense of guitar riffage that would prove to be influential for death metal hybrids like Necrophagist and a keen sense of traditional power metal from the likes of Crimson Glory, SPIRAL ARCHITECT is like the ultimate tech infused tribute band that not only nails all the head-spinning technical workouts like pros but also seamlessly evoke many of the greats that led up the turn of the millennium when this was released. A SCEPTIC'S UNIVERSE is one of those albums that is literally flawless but yet seems a little too derivative in its blatant rampage through the Watchtower meets Psychotic Waltz meets Fates Warning worship. While the impeccable juggling act of emotional fortitude, instrumental prowess and atmospheric embellishments warrant a 5 star rating, the fact is that this band merely took what was already presented by their influence and exaggerated everything substantially and while a completely satisfying listen in the end, still leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth because i really want this to be a new Watchtower album which is what it sounds like.

While technically this technical band from Montreal, Quebec is still in existence, the reality is that in their two decade plus existence, they have only released this sole album and most members are involved in completely non-related projects mostly existing in the black metal realm, however for those who completely despise death growls for vocals and in the process are completely shut out of the magnificent wealth of technical death metal bands that exist in the 21st century, this will be an album that satisfies on many, many levels and if it weren't for the exaggerated Starcastle effect (the band that cloned progressive rock Yes' early works), i'd be on board for declaring this a bona fide masterpiece and if it actually were the third Watchtower release or the next chapter of Psychotic Waltz or even a blip on the Fates Warning canon, i would indeed but i do subtract points for being too blatantly inspired. Still though, impressive album that must be heard by any fan of progressive metal's top tier albums.

This ugly duckling of an album is often labeled technicality for technicality's sake. This is certainly highly technical speed/jazz-influenced metal, at first listen chaotic and indistinguishable, with all instruments seemingly playing in parallel (skeptic) universes. But at the same time is not the most extreme example of tech metal I've heard (for inhumanely fast but pointless mess check the Behold... the Arctopus). While playing unconventionally, they still try to contain themselves within a proper song, lyrical and vocal format, with breathing spaces and classical soloing (the very upfront bass is a standout). At the tenth listen some of this even becomes kind of catchy. This album seems to enjoy a love/hate relationship among prog fans, but just to give a perspective - in Russia, with its very skeptical attitude towards prog metal - just read the reviews - this enjoys nearly universal (not skeptic!) praise.

Playing technical metal music can be a bit of a risky gamble. While it's often fun to showcase your skills in a more complex and intricate setting, the balance between emotion and technicality tends to be incredibly tough to strike effectively. Sure, bands such as Brain Drill and Trigger the Bloodshed could pull you in with their insane levels of musicianship, but how long will it be until you get bored of pure technicality and brutality alone? How about integrating some atmosphere, or maybe some meaningful interludes to offer some breathing room? Well, one band from Norway was able to create a wonderful experience of both mind-boggling technicality and borderline- beautiful moments of progressive rock bliss; they are known as Spiral Architect.

Not to be confused with the Black Sabbath song of the same name, Spiral Architect were (and are, since they somehow haven't disbanded) a progressive metal band with technical elements similar to Watchtower or Psychotic Waltz. While their music is strictly progressive metal, it's interesting to note that (other than Scariot) every band Spiral Architect are associated with members-wise are involved with Norwegian black metal. Anyway, they ended up gracing the world with only one studio album, A Sceptic's Universe, back in 2000. First of all, I'm not going to beat around the bush with this statement: A Sceptic's Universe is the most musically technical album I've ever heard. More technical than Necrophagist. Or Watchtower. Or Atheist. Those are not statements to take lightly, but the sheer intricacy and complexity of each composition is absolutely mindblowing. Right from the opening track "Spinning," there's often a sense of chaos and frantic energy despite how calculated each passage is; the guitar/bass interplay of album highlight "Insect" is another fantastic example of this, especially in how the guitar line emulates the unsettling keyboard part in the intro. Then there's the singer 'yvind H'geland, who brings an almost operatic quality to the experience with his strongly-layered harmonies and use of power metal-esque vibrato. His work is especially well implemented within the more melodic moments of the record, such as in the main verses of "Excessit" and closer "Fountainhead," but it also serves the more intense moments with the more dramatic and even semi-theatrical elements involved.

Beyond the vocals, however, the real shock of the experience is in just how much emotion and beauty it all contains. The typical progressive metal wankery certainly hasn't gone away (is it ever truly absent), but the difference is in how much of the wankery is necessary in fitting the confines of the band's songwriting. The way every instrument fits into the overall product ensures that everyone in the band is essential to how the music plays out, and there's not much genuine musical excess to be heard. "Insect," "Spinning," "Conjuring Collapse," and "Fountainhead" in particular feature some amazingly tight playing and wonderful chemistry, while songs such as "Cloud Constructor" and "Adaptability" allow the musicians to stretch their talents over more expansive arrangements. "Cloud Constructor" is definitely one of the standouts on the album because of this, featuring a slower and more sprawling sound along with beautifully harmonized guitars from Steinar Gundersen and Kaj Gornitzka aside often subdued vocals. It even has a few instances of *gasp* 4/4 time! Believe me, it's pretty surprising when considering the rest of the album. "Occam's Razor" is another instance of breathing room on the record, a slow interlude featuring H'geland's synthesizer work to a greater degree while Sean Malone (of Cynic) plays a neat little chapman stick solo near the end. But the more emotional elements of the album even make it to the most technical sections; in fact, there's both a sense of chaos and even what sounds like a sense of impending doom in both the lyrics and the atmosphere. This is especially displayed in moments like the unsettling chugging breakdowns of "Insect" or the slow moments of "Cloud Constructor," the latter displaying a lot of bleakness in its subject matter as well. Finally, I have to mention the amazing talents of bassist Lars K. Norberg and drummer Asgeir Mickelson, who are perhaps the most impressive musicians on this thing. Norberg is especially phenomenal: he just rips through bass lines at speeds I've rarely heard in metal, and his level of precision in the process is just ridiculous.

A Sceptic's Universe, to me, is the route that more progressive metal artists should go in making a record. It's extremely technically impressive, atmospheric, emotional, has plenty of time for thought and intrigue, and is all brought together by quite an underrated frontman (who was also in Arcturus, I might add). The album might occasionally lack in terms of variety, but it's a small price to pay for one of progressive metal's more underrated and overlooked modern gems. If you can handle the ridiculous technicality, you really should try A Sceptic's Universe; it's a near-perfect mix of complexity, atmosphere, and emotion.

(Originally published on Sputnikmusic)

I love this album! I just had to write a review about it. I was surprised to see so many reviews teetering on either side of the spectrum, love or hate, 1 star or 5 star along with many 3 star!

Wow, it's true though. This is THAT kind of album. It's uncompromising. It's special. It's unique and all these things make it truly essential for any progressive metal fan!

This has to be one of my very favourite albums in this genre and it will always stand as a shining beacon of what this genre could produce when the music and only the music is catered to.

(5/10)

I'm not sure I'll ever be able to properly make my mind up about this one. My opinion can vary wildly even during a listen, so I'll go somewhere in the middle. The reason is that "A Sceptic's Universe" is pretty much an unremitting maelstrom of technical metal. To call Spiral Architect a 'challenging' band to listen to doesn't even begin to cover it.

Right from the start we get a onslaught of complicated time signatures, which never really lets up, never really lets you get a hold on any song for too long. To me, it sounds like a technical jazz metal extension of Fates Warning/Watchtower, something further emphasised by the vocals. I also have the version of this album with the bonus track, a cover of the early FW classic "Prelude To Ruin", which I think is absolutely brilliant. Maybe because I already know and love the song I can get a handle on it more easily. Its also the only song I can actually remember anything about once it's over.

Obviously the musicianship is outstanding, and this extends to every instrument. The bass in particular is really high in the mix, and a good addition to the sound. It bounces around weirdly with just as much of a technical flourish as the guitar. All the instruments are insanely complicated though. Did these guys ever manage to play this stuff live? God knows how that would have been possible.

At times though, I'm not sure what I'm really getting out of it. The songs can sometimes not even feel like songs, just formless technicality. I'm not sure if it's meant to sound chaotic, or if it's just so complexly structured that I can't decipher what is going on, but either way I am completely lost for large portions of the 'songs'.

In conclusion... I think I like it? Everyone should hear this, at least. Even if you end up hating it (which I can foresee many a typical prog fan doing) then you'll probably have a morbid fascination with the music. If however, you are a fan of Watchtower, Fates Warning, or any Jarzombek or Malone projects, then seek this out right away.

Is that a solo or a tornado?

Spiral Architect is an interesting band. They emerged like a small flame in the intense heat of the mid 90s' "jazz metal" frenzy, where bands like Death, Atheist and Cynic were releasing revolutionary music with the interesting fusion of jazz and technical death metal. Spiral Architect has a very similar style to Elements era Atheist, with an intensely fast and speed driven jazz fusion esque bass and guitar lines, this time with more melodic vocals. The band released a single album, A Skeptic's Universe, in 2000 before disintegrating into oblivion. The band, even with just one, obscure album, has succeeded in leaving a significant mark on the progressive metal world with their interpretation of a brief musical movement.

The album's musical makeup is very similar to much of the jazz metal of the era, with a bit more thrash metal, melodic vocal pieces, and a slightly dissonant guitar feel at points. Although they have obvious influence in the likes of Atheist and Death, the band is still able to break away with a slightly more unique style, fusing more traditional progressive metal, jazz, and thrash metal to make an interesting view on the jazz metal scene. The songs have some really superb points, but others seem like essentially every other jazz metal band of the time period ? fast, intense, technical metal manias with ample shredding and hard post-bop influenced bass lines. Although the music at times seems like nothing special with the slew of bands just like it, it does have a slight attractive quality that makes the cold lines of intense music appealing.

One think I'm really bent on is whether to say I really love the incredible audible, intense bass lines, or say that they're unnecessary. Although I absolutely love the fact that they are on the same aural level as the hissing guitars, some part of me thinks their over-technicality adds some kind of a frigid, inaccessible quality to the music. Although they are "necessary" to make the music have that "jazz" feel, at times they just aren't right for the music. However, I must commend the band for their incredible skill of adding an odd harmony between the tornado off bass lines and the crunching, technical guitar lines. Although at times the crazy frenzy is a little scary, overall the band has done a superb job of crafting a very interesting technical metal album.

Overall, this album, all together, is a very balanced display of technical metal. The band manages to balance being like every other tech metal of the age with having a unique and defining sound, making for a good, but not overly remarkable album. This technical monstrosity has its genius moments, its "that was unnecessary" moments, its moments of almost ironic melodic grace, and its moments of "this is just like every other tech metal band ever," equaling out to a good, but non-essential album. One can find more pleasure with bands like Death, Cynic (especially Cynic), and Atheist. Although this album is in no way bad (it is quite good, in fact), it is no essential addition to a collection, unless the listener wants a more inclusive tech metal collection. 3+ stars.

I have only some simple and direct ideas about this exceptional album! Geniality is mostly not understood! Some people are living before their time and age! This is an album made to prove that technical metal,Prog or whatever can produce pure msuical masterpieces! A sceptic's universe is the ultimate ultra technical metal masterpiece!! This album is the most technical album ever made!Something unbelieveble at what level of musicianship some maniacs of technique can achieve their capacities and abilities!It's simply breathtaking from the first note to the last one!Neil Kernon brings,as producer,a note of perfection to an album already perfect from the technical point of view!Sometimes I think that this album deserves at least the status of Cult, as the sensational and unique CONTROL AND RESISTANCE-WATCHTOWER!And it's twice more dangerous than the Watchtower's album!!! Even in 5-10-25...100 years this album will be a refference...AN ICON! I gave 2 times 5 stars to an historical album!10 Stars!! PURE MASTERPIECE FOR ETERNITY!!!

Spiral Architect is one of the most intristing bands ever from progressive metal. I don't think that they are Tech/Extreme Prog Metal only prog metal, at least to my ears. I know this album since he was released almost 10 years befor. I must confess this was and at some point still is one of the most intristing and captivating albums ever from my collection. The album released in 2000 named very explicit A sceptic universe is one of the most complex albums I ever heared, in top 10 for sure for the highly complex compositions. Now, I saw that for some this album is a masterpiece for others is a waist of time, because of their unique manner of composing and arrangements, pieces are so complex that sometimes hearts my ears, but overall is a pleasenty album for sure. I like this kind of prog metal, to be complex, maybe some parts are to sophisticated and for that reason they are a little boring, but only in places. Melodicity on this album is almost none, or better said is but in their view, as Spiral Architect want to be, that gives to the album a unpleasent aura for most of the listneres. All pieces are good, two of them are highly recommended : opening track Spinning and Insects, two of the most elaborated in manner of composing and musicaly speaking pieces I ever heared, this guys are simply crazy. Sometimes they reminf me of Watchtower or Fates Warning. The jazzy elements of bass lines interplays simply amazing with the drum chops made by Asgeir Mickelson, great drumer. So, a very good progressive metal album in my view a 3.5 rounded to 4, still not a masterpiece in my ears but worth investigated.