INDIVISION

This is indie? This album is very well written as can be told within the first two tracks. Good Intentions (Part I) explores the worlds of Neal Morse as it slowly transitions into Crimson territory. As we travel into (Part II) we get another dose of Morse. This man seems to have harnessed the power of the Morse family. His musicianship is solid. The drums sound raw despite being perfectly clear. I'm listening to the streaming MP3's so maybe the lossy quality is what sounds raw. Cincture starts to get the blood pumping.

I listened to Cincture twice before resuming with the music. Despite finding the vocals a bit annoying the music is well performed. He's got some tasty licks on his guit-fiddle. Oh wait! Did I just hear some real fiddles in the background? I'm not sure, again due to the lossy quality of MP3s, if some of the instrumentation is synth or real. Is that a real sax? Either way this song is sick. Then we charter to the unusually happy sounding Perpetual Decay.

Perpetual Decay is a smooth track. Some odd things going on with the time. Well handled. Three measures of five then a measure of three into four measures of four. With some ocasional randomness. Oh. It is synth. Some tribalness holding onto that five. Not too big on the vocals but he can sing in key. He is creative with the vocal track. Distorting his vox and bouncing them between the left and right tracks. Then they bring the metal.

Creeping Fade starts with some animosity. Then drops into Nealdom. . . . . . . . . . . . Some more Crimson Tribal. Sick guitar solo around the five minute mark. Again very tasty. Not in your face mindless noodling like we do on the edge of our beds when we're bored. The drummer shines with maximum grooveness after the guitar solo. Then we go back down the crimson corridor as we transition into the next track.

All fall Down....... (skips to the 2:45 mark after a couple of seconds then skips to the next song)

Rapture beings with some soul searching maybe wondering why the last track was made. Maybe wondering how many chocolates I just ate. Did I eat too many? Should I listen to new music every time I eat chocolates? Everything is surrounding me. I'm mesmerized. The sound of water is soothing as we venture on.

Two Stones is chill. Continuing with the soothing vibes the vocals become less annoying and more fitting. Almost. A little more soul searching however with a sexy rhythm to lead us this time. Around the six minute mark we begin our journey into manhood. Full tribal vibes. I'm glad I ate those chocolates before I started listening.

BOOOM! Then we are hit with some intensity as we are starting our decent into the void. I'm starting to really appreciate these two guys as musicians. Singularity is a sick track. I'm not fully opposed to the vocals yet..... But I must say instrumentals are definitely their strong point. Listened to it three times before moving on.

Times Abyss (skip to the four minute mark)

Closing the Book begins with a good steady rock rhythm. The vocals are really annoying me now. Please stop singing because I really enjoy the music. There's something faintly Nick Cave/Dirty Three-ish about this track. However the instruments aren't particularly mixed well. The keys are too loud and the guitar is too low. Sounds muffled.

Finale begins with some heaviness. However the guitar isn't as tasty this time around until the crimson section around 1:30. Track starts getting sick at this point then they jump into some cock rockin into a groove. Drums are strong on this track. Ends with a synth note releasing us from the void.

This album jumps around a lot. A lot of genres are touched. I can definitely see the prog edge. The influences of Neal Morse and King Crimson are obvious. However I don't find this album particularly progressive. Just as they would get to the brink of chartering new territory they would do a 180 right back into the safe chartered territory. Some of the tracks were mixed hastily. The musicianship is strong and I would like to see an album with more musicians on it. Most particularly a strong keyboard player and a new singer. This album isn't easily forgetable but I probably won't listen to it again for a while. Two and a half stars rounded up for some good guitar and drum work.