METAZOA

"Metazoa" is the very definition of a promising debut: There's enough of a foundation here to allow for easy future development and enough substance to keep the listener enthralled for (more or less) the entire runtime. There's no point beating around the bush: The stars of the show here are Matt Solis and Nick Cohon's guitars. Occasionally they'll showcase some of the bravado that one expects from a band with twin lead guitars, but more often they'll take a nuanced approach to playing, with a heavy riff anchoring a fluttering solo or both players intertwining for some effects pedal-drenched shoegaze.

There are enough bold hooks here to remain memorable amongst the more derivative sequences and the "less is more" approach to keyboards keeps them from sounding dated or silly. The arrangements alternate nicely between straightforward melodic death metal and more folkish/power metal elements without sounding contrived, and the growls aren't off- putting and don't sound out of place, a perfectly brash layer to the already heroic stew the band has cooked up. This is the rare progressive metal release that has bite AND intellect. With their new album on the way I anticipate a lot more (quite deserved) buzz around Comorant and can't wait to see what they come up with next. This is an album that every progressive metal lover should be willing to give a spin.