THE PARALLAX II - FUTURE SEQUENCE

OK?. I'm a level 1 on this, having heard a few tracks. The problem is that I couldn't stand what I heard. But I see absolutely raving reviews about this album on Prog Archives. So, I will try to keep an open mind.

Track 1 - Goodbye to Everything

OK, so actually, off to a good start. Gently strummed clean electric guitar with excellent harmony vocals start this short introductory track. Some tinkling glockenspiel adds color to the sound. A bit of synth joins in as we go.

Track 2 - Astral Body

Nice guitar riffs and accents from the band?so far, so good. I like the riff that begins around 1:15. Then the growling-screaming vocals come along and ruin the great playing. Really, the playing is fantastic! OK, he can actually sing around 3:00. But then he goes back to the horrid screaming. Why do so many modern metal bands feel they have to use this type of sound?

Track 3 - Lay Your Ghosts to Rest

Even more screaming to start this one. Extremely fast tempo. But at 1:30 he actually sings and the groove changes. I like this part. Piano at 2:25 for a few seconds, then the heaviness kicks in again, but without the screaming. But never fear, it comes back! This is ridiculous after the 4-minute mark. (It's a 10-minute song) ...Things ease off at 6:45 A waltz time at a moderate tempo, clean guitar & vocals. Actually, it reminds me of the Janis Joplin version of Summertime. But at 8:19 screaming over an otherwise cool riff. Real singing does return though. So, it ends pretty well.

Track 4 - Autumn

A brief track at 1:18. Spacy type sounds fade in. Sounds like we are on a spaceship.

Track 5 - Extremophile Elite

A pretty cool synth riff kicks us off here. The band comes in and it reminds me of Dream Theater. Until around 50 seconds in when he opens his mouth. They make pills for this?sigh. Real singing starts around 2:00, but it doesn't last. I like the riff at around 3:15. Then at 4:25, Xylophones! OK?. Some real singing at around 5:00 mixed with growling. Things ease off at 7:10 into a 5-4 time that's pretty cool. Wonderful guitar playing. If dude would just shut up this would be cool. Sitar around 8:40, nice. But then the ending is more screaming.

Track 6 - Parallax

Clean guitars and spoken word. An atmospheric interlude of 1:15

Track 7 - The Black Box

Another short one at 2:11. Piano starts it off and clean vocals join in. He can sing when he wants to. The intensity increases about halfway through, but not screamy.

Track 8 - Telos

Heavy guitars and the rhythm section fade in to be taken over by screaming. Sme cool riffage around 1:30 and beyond. Trying to ignore the screaming, but it isn't easy. Things chill out at 3:30 or so. Electric Piano and an almost Jazzy groove with mellow guitar solos. Some odd sound effects over the top are a bit distracting. Then some mellow clean vocals join in. A horn section joins in around 5:45. A heavy sounding horn section though, but it works. The demon returns around 7:15. Getting a headache around 8:45. Lol?

Track 9 - Bloom

A repeated piano note with band accents starts this one off. (A shorter one at 3:29) He's doing some gruff vocals here, but not screaming. Really quirky playing & singing around 30 seconds, then the screaming starts at around 1 minute. OK, we're surfing now?around 1:30, almost like "Wipe-out". Then we start demonic screaming again. Quirkiness returns around 2:30. Complex guitar & drumming close this one out. Pretty cool track, despite the screaming. A lot going on in 3 and a half minutes.

Track 10 - Melting City

I think he's melting it with his voice, lol. He goes to a clean voice around 1:30, briefly. But this may be the heaviest song yet on the album. Things ease off at around 3:10, with some mellow playing and even a flute. Lots of time and tempo changes and mellow vocals in this part of the song. Occasional heavier parts. But the screaming returns at 6:00. Odd meter with a cool bass line around 7:15. Clean guitar chords join over the top. Nice! Pretty cool clean vocals over heavy guitars at around 9 minutes. But it returns at around 9:40 for a few seconds and the spacy sound effects bridge us over until?

Track 11 - Silent Flight Parliament

The most epic length track at over 15 minutes. I like the opening riffs and drum parts. Mellow instrumentation and vocals around 1:40. Then here we go again at 2:10. I've got to figure out how to deal with the screamy/growly vocals, because there is so much great playing. Relief about 5:15 A moderately slow tempo, with heavy guitars and clean vocals. It doesn't last though. The next section is fast & heavy with vocals alternating between growl and clean. Some cool little bits of quirky sounds pop in now and then. A unique sound starts around 8 minutes, when things chill out again. Strummed clean electric guitar happens around 9:40, followed by a heavy riff with clean vocals. Then we get a guitar solo break. Big power chords close out the solo, nice. I like the vocals at around 11:50. Growling resumes at 12:30. Nice drum fills around 13 minutes, then a string section and distant clean vocals. Screaming returns at 14:40 for the closing bits of the song.

Track 15 - Goodbye to Everything (reprise)

We return to the opening bit of the album but rocking harder this time. I like how it begins. 6-8 groove with a nice guitar solo. Harmony vocals join in and some brief clean vocals. Then we have some phasey clean guitar sounds. Some gentle strumming in the background. And we fade out.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

I have to get over my aversion to the screaming/growling vocals, because that's the only thing I don't like about this album. I get why people love this album so much. There is a bunch of cool playing, genuinely interesting rhythms and shifts in styles and timing. Honestly, it was a more interesting listen than Operation: Mindcrime by Queensryche was yesterday. (See my review, but it was a case of everything was fantastic, but it all started sounding the same after a while.) In the end though, I'm going to give it the same score as Mindcrime, 3.5 out of 5 stars, because I would have absolutely loved it were it not for the frequent screaming/growling vocal style.

Clicked 3 stars, but really 3.5.