THE SEDUCTION OF MADNESS

I must say that if there is one thing this band is, it is original. To hear pounding, complex, metal riffs interspersed with lounge type keyboard parts is quite interesting to me. At times I feel like Gentle Giants keyboardist joined a prog death metal band. The singing is like what you might expect if Peter Hammill had been an Italian opera singer with a taste for heavy metal music. I hope I haven't scared you away yet, because there are some fine musical qualities to this album. The drummer, for instance, is one of the best I've heard. His playing is incredible; fast, precise, creative, and very skillful. The bass playing has some standout spots (on a couple of the instrumental tracks), but is usually somewhat buried by the guitars. The keyboardist seems like he thinks he is in a different band, yet still manages to blend in an unusual way with the rest of the band (the tracks were he composed the music are by far the most symphonic in style). And the guitarist and singer, and primary composer, is quite a piece of work. I like his singing style, even if his English is a bit too accented and his grammar a bit off. His lyrics are quite hilarious...........assuming you can laugh about playing with human skulls and using a violin bow to rape a bleeding aorta (no, I don't know exactly who this is accomplished and I suspect neither does he). Yes, the lyrics can be quite grim, but they are presented in such a loud and over the top fashion that I can't help but like them. But that's just me. You may be horrified by the whole package. But if you like complex metal, mixed with some symphonic flair and dramatic vocals, you may well enjoy this album. I did.

However, I can't give more than 3 stars to this album, as it simply isn't really going to be essential to most people (not even me, really). But it is fascinating and unusual in many ways, so it might interest the more adventurous prog heads out there.