RELOCATOR

Relocator is an instrumental tour-de-force of progressive instrumental music. It's a celebration of the joy of the interplay between a group of musicians who are clearly at the top of their game, pushed to the boundaries of chopsville by the ever-remarkable and interesting soundscapes and twiddling of former Dream Theater keyboardist, Derek Sherininan.

It definitely takes a few listens for the hooks and melodies to sink in, but once they do you will be humming them all day. And banging your head. And tapping your toes. And pressing play again and again and again. Everything about this CD stands out. And just because Derek Sherinian is present, don't let it fool you into thinking he steals the show. Yes, he is a great player, but he is also surrounded by other great players, on all instruments, and that elevates this disc to an entirely different level than what you would expect from a relatively unknown group of musicians.

The album opens with the hard rocking "Red Vibes" a journey into clean guitar tones over eerie soundscapes, and when the violin solo kicks in at just before the two minute mark, you'll know you are in for an eclectic ride. By the end of the song when you hear the sweep arpeggios and syncopation of the rhythm section, you will surely be trying to move your jaw back into the upright position.

"Biosphere" features some of the heaviest riffing on the album, interspersed with some of the most killer keyboard soloing I've ever heard from Mr. Sherinian, whose mark is all over this CD. The breakdown at 3:48 is particularly cool, and I find myself rewinding to the beginning of this section quite a bit. Seamlessly wandering from cool, quiet laid-back, almost jazzy interludes to cacophonic episodes of frantic and frenetic aggression, the song takes you on a ride you will not soon forget. And even though it is nearly 8 minutes long, it feels more like 5.

"Relocator," the title track, features some extremely tasty guitar playing. I am not sure why from the beginning this sounded vaguely familiar to me. It could be the Sherinian influence, I don't know. I really love the ultra-heavy riffing that starts around 2:30 and the turnarounds in this song are great. The section that starts at 3:17 features some fantastic guitar soloing, somewhat reminiscent of old-school Eddie Van Halen. And before long we're back in to the main them of the song, but this time the bar seems to have been raised and everyone is really, really jamming.....great ending to a terrific song!

"Proxima" didn't really catch my interest until the 2:24 mark, where it gets very quiet and the main riff kind of builds back up. Upon repeated listens, there was a payoff as I started to understand the way the song moves. There is something very urgent sounding about this song. The entire track makes me want to get up and go do something. The soloing that kicks in at about the 4:00 mark is just mind-blowing. And soon after that you'll find yourself, as you often do while listening to this album, banging your head to the beat.

"Aavishkar" starts out with some extremely cool and exotic sounding clean guitar. Enhanced by the presence of the violin and the wah effect on the guitar during the intro riffing, this song is probably one of my personal favorites. One thing that I think can happen with instrumental albums is the album can start to sound repetitious after a while, and Relocator do a terrific job of avoiding that pitfall, because each and every song on this album has its own unique sound and identification. This particular song has some of the heaviest riffing on the entire album, and the inclusion of some very interesting leads on top of that stuff as well as the extremely ethnic, almost Egyptian sounding stuff that is included in sections like what starts around the 3:30 mark, I could eat this up all day long. This is a track I have often played more than once when listening to this album. The buildup of tension during this section raises the hair on the back of my neck! I don't want to give too much away with this review, but this may be the centerpiece of this album. I would even use the word masterpiece to describe this song.

"13 Reasons" has an interesting intro, using some very unique keyboard sounds, but before long the familiar sounds of Sherinian's keys and the pounding rhythm section are in and there is a lot here to sink your ears into. One thing I love about the guitar playing on this album is the interesting choice of notes and scales. Many instrumental albums like this are laden with guitar and keyboard solos that, after two or three tracks, sound exactly like the solos on previous songs, or at least vaguely similar to solos on previous songs, and this album never does that. For some reason, the bass guitar playing on this song really stood out to me as well. Some monstrous bass riffing and patterns really enhance this tune and indeed the entire album! And the bass tone is outstanding as well, always cutting through, but never overwhelming.

"Urban Blue" opens with a very, very cool bass riff. This song really demonstrates what a tight rhythm section can bring to the table. A groove-filled exploration of head-banging riffage and some of the best, jazz-tinged turnarounds on the entire album. As a musician I listen to this song and I know that it took a lot of practice to learn these bass lines and riffs. And the tightness of it all is extremely impressive and obviously a very enjoyable listen. Very tasty guitar solo here as well!

"The Alchemist" at 11:33 is the longest track on the album. Strangely, when it's over, you wonder where all of the time went. From the soft tones of bass/keys/clean guitar during the intro to the way it molds that intro into an off-kilter riff interspersed with stinging keyboard laser beam strikes from Sherinian, this song meanders through rough and beautiful soundscapes....quiet moments, crazy moments and everything in between. Classic Sherinian solo at 3:30 really launches the song into an entirely new realm of playing, and it really never seems to come down from there, only improving over time.

All in all, this is one of the absolute BEST instrumental progressive rock albums in my vast collection. It is the opinion of this reviewer that this album stands head and shoulders with such monstrous works as Liquid Tension Experiment's "II" or any of Sherinian's solo albums under the Planet X moniker. I also think it's worth noting that while the influence of Sherinian is unmistakable, this band has its own identity, which is well deserved. They sound, to this reviewer, like Relocator songs, and I for one, can't wait to hear the next album this band puts out.