ANGULAR PERCEPTIONS

While I found Thought Chamber's second album - 2013's Psykerion - to be extremely impressive, this debut album by the band is considerably less impressive to my ears. Because I was so mightily impressed by Psykerion, I guess it is inevitable that I am going to relate this debut album of the band to that later masterpiece. When I first got interested in Thought Chamber I gave this debut album of the band a spin, but since it didn't capture my interest at first I moved on to Psykerion which grabbed me almost instantly and demanded many repeated listens and eventually led to a glowing five star review.

Six years separate the two albums by this band and the line-up is also considerably different with only guitarist and band leader Michael Harris and vocalist Ted Leonard of Enchant fame appearing on both albums. This time around the band was completed by Bobby Williamson on keyboards, Derek Blakley on bass, and Rob Stankiewicz on drums.

The two albums by Thought Chamber are really very different with Psykerion being a progressive Rock album with Metal elements and Angular Perceptions a 100% Metal album with some progressive elements. Whatever experimentation found here is firmly rooted in a Metal base. More precisely, this is a Neo-Classical Metal album very much in the style of Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force. Another band also heavily influenced by Malmsteen is Symphony X and there are also similarities between them and Thought Chamber. There are also hints of Jazz-Rock/Fusion on Angular Perceptions but none of the Eclectic and Symphonic Prog elements of Psykerion. While Angular Perceptions is an entry in an established style and genre; Psykerion transcends established genres.

The difference between the two albums of the band is not just in the style, but also in the quality of the material. On both releases the band is highly skilled on their respective instruments, no doubt about that, but the songs here are much less memorable than those found on the otherworldly Psykerion. Leonard sings very well on both albums, but here he gets less room to express himself as he is confined within the format of this form of Metal music.

Personally, I enjoy this kind of music and I find Angular Perceptions to be a good album in its own right. But, unlike Psykerion, its appeal is restricted to the Metal crowd and it will likely not be of much interest to progressive Rock fans in general.

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