TIKTAALIKA

Charles Griffiths has joined the list of members of big bands who decide to start parallel or solo projects and who, with a select and diverse group of musicians, has managed to create -contrary to some musicians like John Petrucci who seek a solo career to realize more relaxed ideas and without much pretension- a solid and heterogeneous album of progressive metal. Tiktaalika is made up of the different forms Progressive Metal has taken over the last few years, where the dark and intricate riffs of bands like Opeth or Meshuggah meet the guitar sets of Dream Theater or Haken themselves. All under the baton of Charles Griffiths who marks a fast and heavy rhythm for most of the album, without becoming overloaded or losing consistency; stringing together perfectly song by song leaving no room for 'filler'.

The fact that among the members of the project there are musicians like Darby Todd, Daniel De Jongh or Tommy Rogers, prevents us from attributing to Griffiths all the virtue of the album, a team work: from the sporadic appearances of saxophones, trumpets or the keyboards of Jordan Rudess, to the versatile voice of the singer of Between the buried and me, and the excellent production work.