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IQ - Dark Matter CD (album) cover

DARK MATTER

IQ

 

Neo-Prog

4.07 | 1038 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

devox
5 stars At this point in a bands career the quality of new albums nearly always pales in comparison to their earlier work. IQ are very much the exception to this rule. Dark Matter is a brilliant album.

Sacred opens the album, a long piece with some beautiful passages and deft musicianship. Red Dust is sublime. A song that should have got radio airplay with its soft, acoustic verses and crashing chorus. An impassioned vocal performance from Peter and some great bass lines and keyboard flourishes complimenting the usual guitar brilliance of Mr Holmes. You Never will is another shorter track, more keyboard led than guitar, it still rattles along with a solid bass line and a great drum part. Theres also a trademark Holmes guitar solo. Born Brilliant is a wonderfully obtuse piece. A regimented pulsing opening with nicholls lyric of self negativity. It builds to a wonderful melody before the final musical passage and more Holmes magic.

IQ leave the best till last. Harvest of Souls is amongst the finest pieces of Neo-Prog ever written. Long and complex with several movements and some dazzling musicianship. A fine lyric and vocal performance from peter nicholls tops this off.

This is IQs' best album to date (yes better than the wake). It stands as the best Neo-Prog album this century and is fully deserving of the big 5 stars

devox | 5/5 |

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