TOWARDS THE MYSTERIUM

The Fractured Dimension - 'Towards The Mysterium' is for me the uncharted avant-garde territory of the prog world I have never explored. How best to describe when they sound like none of the old guard? Well, combine an abbreviated and hyper punctuated Isildurs Bane , with the discordant cacophony of King Crimsons' 'The ProjeKcts' and the neo classical attack of Symphony X but without the heavy riffing and vocals , as this group is all instrumental - and extremely competant at their craft at that. The keyboardist Jimmy Pitts was the reason I entertained this release as I liked very much what I heard from the bands Myspace page. His playing is at a crossroads respectively between Jordan Rudess (synths) and Keith Emerson (piano) and at times his Tazmanian Devil insanity on synthesizer would burn away the now under performing (and disappointing) Derek Sherinian. Give Mr. Pitts a check mark for Quality and Master Class, execution is that spectacular! Highlight tracks include: title track, Prism II : Refraction, the Mathematics of Divinity, Fractured Are The Nine Principals, Slendro, and the last Lecture. Too say nothing of the bass and frenetic drumming work would be scandalous as these are intricate and prominent in the mix - sounding excellent . Think ELP with guest guitarist Michael Romeo. Similar, yet not alike, because Fractured Dimension is taking the aforementioned 'influences' as if viewing these thru stained glass on optical steroids. If you are tired of the sameness virus affecting prog today, then do yourself a favor as I did and get a Fractured Dimension injection and prepare to 'hear colors and envision sound'. Support this group and purchase 'Towards The Mysterium' - give your ears an auditory exercise today! Thank you Jimmy :-)