AMPLIFIER

It doesn't get much better than this for my musical tastes. Heavy, melodic, powerful and dark.This is a trio ? And i thought RUSH could make a lot of noise for a trio. I have had their EP "The Astronaut Dismantles Hal" for some time now and enjoy it a lot, but this absolutely blows it out of the water with the sheer intensity and wall of sound they create. It does bring to mind some of the nineties alternative bands i used to listen to as well.

"Motorhead" opens with some scorching feedback as drums come pounding in followed by powerful doom-like wall of sound. When vocals come in the sound lightens. Check out the drumming when he's singing. It gets so heavy and chaotic 5 minutes in. "Airborne" is dark with some atmosphere. Drums arrive after a minute. The guitar starts to light it up. Vocals 2 1/2 minutes in. Love when he sings "It's time to fly" after 4 1/2 minutes, very powerful. The drumming is incredible. It's hard to believe, but it kicks into an even higher gear 6 minutes in. My God ! Talk about being overwelmed. Awesome tune. "Panzer" offers up to us more punishingly heavy music. Vocals are aggressive and emotional. Thunderous bass before 4 minutes followed by the best part of the song after 5 minutes when the guitar starts to rip it up.

"Old Movies" is slower to begin with as drums and guitar that echo create a lot of atmosphere. Vocals a minute in. It kicks in before 2 1/2 minutes. Killer sound ! This contrast continues. "Post Acid Youth" opens with some nice deep bass as drums slowly pound, and a soundscape is created by the guitar. A very alternative sounding tune. I like it ! "Neon" opens with a simple guitar line as it becomes fuller sounding rather quickly. A calm when the vocals come in. This contrast continues. "On / Off" opens with a gentle guitar melody as light drums join in. Reserved vocals follow. The chorus is so uplifting. They turn up the power before 4 minutes. Nice. The rest of the song is fantastic. Blistering guitar 5 1/2 minutes in. "The Consultancy" has such an amazing sound to it. The drumming is great. "One Great Summer" may be my favourite. There are so many good songs though. One and a half minutes in the song becomes so crushing and moving. "UFOs" is very dark to open. Tons of atmosphere. Vocals before 2 minutes. What a change before 2 1/2 minutes as it brightens and breaks me. It happens again a minute later. Love the mood 4 1/2 minutes in that is similar to the intro. A minute later a wall of guitar hits us hard. Another dark atmosphere follows.

This sounds so good turned up really loud. I'm not surprised with all the high praises throughout the music world that I read in the bio here at ProgArchives after hearing this for myself.