A SOCIAL GRACE

Like INTO THE EVERFLOW, A SOCIAL GRACE took me a few listens to fully appreciate and understand the type of progressive metal that PSYCHOTIC WALTZ bring to the fold. I am delighted to say that after countless listens of A SOCIAL GRACE, that this album is a full-on masterpiece complete with everything that I look for in a progressive metal album. 

Furthermore, the guitar work split by McALPINE and ROCK is simply sublime and mesmerizing. The guitar sound on A SOCIAL GRACE has soft-melodic acoustic intros, shredding wizardly and technical note proficiency arrangements that will sure make your head spin, psychotically for that matter. Tracks like the opener .....AND THE DEVIL CRIED, SPIRAL TOWER, ANOTHER PROPHET SONG, A PSYCHOTIC WALTZ and my favourite ONLY IN A DREAM are prime examples of quality song writing, amazing guitar hooks and steady Rhythmical drumming. All in all, A SOCIAL GRACE is a fairly heavy album but LACKEY and company still balance out the album with a  spacey ambient instrumental in SLEEPING DOGS and a couple of rock ballads with I WILL REMEMBER and the self titled band track A PSYCHOTIC WALTZ. Both of these tracks really display the wonderful versatility and musicianship that PSYCHOTIC WALTZ can perform. Certainly, LACKEY's Flute playing on I WILL REMEMBER will always be something to be desired along with his ability to create excellent vocal harmonizations with the style of prog metal he accompanies. There is no doubt in my mind how truly gifted Mr. LACKEY a.k.a DEVON GRAVES is when it comes to his voice and artistry. Actually believe it or not, but LACKEY's vocal performance, as good as it is on this album, is not his best vocal performance in my opinion. To further illustrate this point, when I ventured further into PSYCHOTIC WALTZ's discography I found that LACKEY's voice in relation to the style of music he would be singing to, I found that the more melodically driven albums MOSQUITO and BLEEDING were his major crowning achievements vocally and arguably artistically, especially on BLEEDING. Lastly,  I don't want to take anything away from A SOCIAL GRACE since I do believe that this is, even being their first effort, to be the best effort ever done by the band definitely on a technical level. I even feel that A SOCIAL GRACE has stronger advancements musically than INTO THE EVERFLOW. The guitar and drums sound tighter on A SOCIAL GRACE, which is why this album has really won me over. Also, it's so hard to create a nice cohesive album when you decide to put 13 tracks on the album as listed, but PSYCHOTIC WALTZ really pulled it off.  Everything flows quite nicely. 

In conclusion, This is a brilliant effort and I would recommend A SOCIAL GRACE to anyone interested in Progressive Metal or to understand the pioneering aspects of the genre itself. PSYCHOTIC WALTZ are such a dynamic band fueled by majestic melodies, sinister and glorious concepts, heart pounding guitar solos and drums. You can bet A SOCIAL GRACE is a clear example of that. It also would be a disgrace for anyone not to appreciate this album, since no band in the world sounds like them. They are unique and respected, especially given their mark in prog metal history. It's amazing to note that A SOCIAL GRACE is still very highly relevant in the progressive metal world given how old the album is. I recommend buying this album if you can rather than downloading it. The SOCIAL GRACE album has incredible art work by MIKE CLIFT that will be sure to suck you in and get you all excited to spin this unbelievable disc. Enjoy everyone. 

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