DARK MATTER

Progressive as a word or concept connotes an act of progression or moving upward to a next level. Thus, progressive rock may means a genre of music, that is rock, which offers progression from previous form to the next one, whatever the form is. If such a loose definition is applied to the music of IQ, say from their masterpiece Subterranea (1997), then, their latest release, Dark Matter (2004), can hardly be touted as progressing. If you like, IQ is a neo progressive band. The characteristics of a so called neo-prog rock are there, yet, when one listen carefully to their latest music, particularly on the epic Harvest of Souls (track 5), Genesis (Gabriel era) music is audible there all along the length of the song! No neo-prog sound. Was this a progression? Or regression?

Mind you, I grew up listening to Genesis (Gabriel era, I must emphasize) and built some sort of progrock sound standard based upon their music, which always there to gauge any progrock release. The IQ release was no exception. Such being the case, I love this regression!!! I could not stop spinning this cd, and it goes from my bedroom, the computer to the car and back, a whole day, a whole week and month. And it is coming back regularly to my player up to this moment.

Sacred Sound (11:40) starts the regression journey nicely and majestically. It is an instant classic IQ, with wonderful interplay between keyboard and guitar that defines IQ's sound (believe it, there IS an IQ's sound). This magnificent journey was ended with a magnum opus, Harvest of Soul (24:29): unique vocal with chilling delivery, keyboard sound that harked back to the heyday of a one Tony Banks, powerful guitar riff, crisp bass line. Just name it, this is a sheer brilliant progrock song!!. The rest three songs, Red Dust Shadow (5:53), You Never Will (4:54) and Born Brilliant (5:20) offered plenty of nice and memorable progrock sound bites that stays longer in your head.

In all, I was glad that IQ has made a progress-to-the-past kind of musical journey. This is a progrock at its very best!!! (Nirarta, Indonesia).