THE DISCOVERY

I remember the first time I listened to this album. Starting with the air-raid sirens screaming through the intro "Genesis Device," I knew this album was going to be what I was looking for. For the longest time, I had been starved to find some new, exciting and original musical niche. Cloudkicker not only presented me with something I had never heard before, but I'll be damned if it wasn't one of the greatest albums I have ever heard. There's just something about the Meshuggah-laden schizophrenic riffing and the dense, atmospheric layering on this album that makes me weep whenever I hear it. The sound is so full that it's like listening to a symphony with nothing but sweeping guitars and intense drumming. All of the full songs on this album are perfect or near to it. "Dysphoria" in particular stands out as a legitimately perfect song--it packs so much catharsis-inducing songwriting into such a small space that at the end I couldn't believe I had been listening for less than five minutes. The title track, "The Discovery," is one of the few pieces I know that can get away with repeating the same riff for more than five minutes and make you love it. Cloudkicker's songwriting just seems to be impeccable. Even the segues on the album are nigh perfect. In fact, one of the only things I can say against this album is that "Triumvirate!" leaves such an intense impression that I need more. You want to know what's better? The whole effing album is free. I see absolutely no reason why every prog fan should not own this album.