CHOIRS OF THE EYE

It is my opinion that Toby Driver is one of the greatest composers in the modern progressive rock scene, and this album (along with the maudlin of the Well albums "Bath" and "Leaving Your Body Map") shows exactly why. This is music that is at turns bone-crushingly heavy, cacophonously noisy, and profoundly weird, and all of it sounds absolutely beautiful. Not in the sense of Beethoven or Mozart, certainly; there are no hooks or even many proper melodies, but it is beautiful nonetheless. The noisiness and insanity perfectly coalesces into something more, and results in one of the most amazing albums of the modern era.

If you've heard the two aforementioned maudlin albums, there are shades of similarity to be found here, but overall this is a different beast. This album has a far more "experimental" feel to it; I don't want to say it's less precise but it certainly seems less structured. A lot of the atmospherics will sound similar, though, and it certainly sounds more like maudlin than Kayo Dot's later albums do.

Now, this is certainly not the symphonic progrock of the 70s. If you see a 14 minute track and are expecting something along the lines of Yes, or Genesis, you will be disappointed. However, if you approach this admittedly formidable piece of work with an open mind I think I can safely say that it will be just as breathtaking as anything else.

Highly recommended; and an album that really has to be heard to be believed. Stunning.

5/5