PHYSICIST

I've never understood why people don't rate this album higher. Sure it isn't his best album but it has several absolute bangers on it. To my sensibilities, it sits squarely between his previous solo efforts and the Strapping Young Lad albums that came directly before and directly after it. It does have a couple of songs that aren't particularly exciting but the other stronger songs help carry them. It is a slightly more coherent release than Infinity but still features a variety of styles and moods although not to the disparate extremes of Infinity.

It does have some slight vibes of being comprised of material that didn't make the cut on any of the aforementioned albums however it has a whole lot of energy and some absolutely haunting and emotional sections that I think are on par with anything else he has put out before or since. Songs such as Victim, Death, Devoid and The Complex could have easily found their place on City or the self-titled SYL album if performed with a tad more aggression. Kingdom, Jupiter and Forgotten while having different themes and styles would not have been far out of place on Infinity. Planet Rain is a beautiful song that would have effortlessly complimented the tracks on Ocean Machine. That only really leaves Namaste, Material and Irish Maiden as the outliers and these tracks are the ones I think that stop this from being considered one of his better albums however I don't find them unpleasant, perhaps a little unfinished if anything.

I always felt like this album was a reward for his fans who closely followed his solo output as well as Strapping Young Lad and I still spin this album quite regularly. For those fans who dismissed it years ago, I would say give it a fresh spin and see if it grabs you now.