PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE

To picture this Mid-Atlantic American duo, take bits and pieces of your favorite prog bands on the rockier side - mid 70s and 80s King Crimson, mature Rush, Floyd, Kansas - with a poorer vocal. Despite some laid back sections, overall mood is gloomy (though not crossing over to metal, like many do nowadays). It's bad now in a middle-aged male's life and will get worse.

This is not your riff-keyboard melody-long bridge kind of prog. Songs are very long, with multiple sections and those odd-time thingies. It doesn't always gel together, but not without anthemic moments. Erich O'Dell uses a lot of different guitar tones, including clean ones, and backing synths, but seriously overuses Discipline-era King Crimson ascetic guitar lines. If you're familiar with Disconnect, this sounds like Twisting the Knife - the longest but least consistent song off their Enough Blame to Go Around album. If not, that album is a better introduction to them. And, uh, guys, really mature of you to get offended at a review. You know what I'm talking about.