A SCEPTIC'S UNIVERSE

As I am trying to collect my thoughts about what to write about Spiral Architect, I can't help but wonder about some rather degrading reviews. Of course, anyone can write anything about anybody as long as it sounds sophisticated enough (or the reviewer, for that matter), but to judge a band of this caliber by two stars would be in my mind an act worthy of offending anyone who apreciates music.

This band, or to be more exact, the musicians in it, is so far beyond excellence that not just me but many others are still trying to grasp what this project is all about. One good advice that was mentioned on the album cover - this is really not a music for faint hearted. Music on this creation was taken to much higher level than anyone can really anticipate. It shocks with it's force and it's atypical structure. Take the 'Cloud Constructor', for example. The complexity of the four minds playing together, resulting rather in biggest killer closing I've ever heard, is a food for thought here.

Usually, in most of bands, there is always a one or two weaker players who are filling the space for the virtuoso guitar musician, for example. Stratovarius comes to mind just of the top of my head. In Spiral Architect, there is absolutely no weak link. Everyone is phenomenaly superb. I challenge anyone who says that this music lacks emotion. I counter with the idea that every note is loaded with THE emotion. It's sort of like us trying to understand the complexity of fastest animal moves that we are not in our wildest dreams capable of, simply because we are not. To the animals performing the split second reactions like attacks or escapes, it is all normal. I compare these musicians to those animals - "normal" playing for them would have most likely been a very boring affair. They are technical, they are fast, they are melodic, they are hard where needed and soft where they feel like it. Some bands like to spread their songs over twenty minutes and I have nothing against that as I love many such creations. However, these guys went the other way - they remind me of a spider's intricacy, speed and hunger for a pray. They are not trying to impress anyone. They are trying to reach new horizons of experimenting with skills they possess and I congratulate them. They have created a musical project that many years from now, listeners will still be trying to decode. I can't wait for their next project. Is it going to eclipse "A Sceptic Universe"? Hard to say. But be ready for another round of real "organized chaos"!

Five stars.....