DAWN ON PYTHER

I have to begin with a sigh. I tried very hard to like this album. After years of repeated attempts to do so, I have unfortunately found that this music is not for me. I'll do my best to explain why, but first here's why I wanted to like it so badly.

First, the concept behind this sounds like it should be awesome. Dawn on Pyther is the 2nd of a series (yes, that's right: series, as in more than one album) of albums depicting a science fiction story about life beginning on a dead world. In a word: cool. As a Star Trek, Star Wars, and just about anything else "Star" fan, I could easily have gotten behind a concept like that. The second reason I wanted to like this album was because I chatted with Hugo Flores (Project Creation's creator) several times, which is how I came to order the CD in the first place, and I liked him. I liked his ideas, I liked that he wasn't pulling punches - doing something so ambitions is risky. So, I went into this ready, hoping, and expecting to be amazed.

I remember when I first received it I was fumbling with the packaging in the car so I could listen to it right away. My first experience listening to it was on a drive - I forget exactly how long now, but it wasn't long enough to hear the album all the way through. What I do remember is the feeling of my heart sinking further and further into the floor of the car as each track ended without anything of note occurring in it. There are a few things worth noting here: 1 - I am less picky about music when in the car because my mind is partially on driving and I'm therefore less inclined to be a critic, and 2 - I was not able to finish hearing the album immediately after leaving the car, so it had to wait until later that day. My first listening experience was therefore disjointed. At first, I put my lackluster impression down to reason # 2, and figured that reason # 1 distracted me this time. I hoped that once I gave this due attention with headphones, it would improve.

It is now many years later, however, and it has not improved. I find it difficult to make it through the first three tracks. I think I know why: 1 - The wonder of the concept is not adequately expressed in the music. The music is well executed, but the songwriting does not make me believe that I am on Pyther. I do not feel the alien landscape. 2 - The lyrics often strike me as clunky or too literal. 3 - Sections of the music are disjointed. They tend not to flow into each other. (Not always necessary - maybe this was an artistic choice but it didn't work for me). 4 - Many of the synth sounds used seemed cliche to me. 5 - Expression of the interesting concept seems to have taken a back-seat to showmanship. It feels like the album is saying, "look at me, I'm very prog" rather than, "this is what it would feel like to be on Pyther when this world-changing event is happening."

I doubt I will ever feel the urge to listen to this music again. However, I do have to say the technical proficiency of everyone involved was good. If you are just looking to hear someone play an instrument well within varying moods, you might like this. The production is very good, quite clean.

I should also say I was surprised to find this group listed as progressive metal. They do have some metal elements, but I wouldn't have given them this label myself.

In summation, the music did not live up to the concept. But the album was performed and produced well.