PERSPECTIVES

You have to hand it to the French - when they want to do something original, they do something original. At least that's the case with progressive metallers Lord of Mushrooms' latest opus "Perspectives".

After the surprisingly straight ahead no frills, yet quite quirky and kind of humorous 'Imago', Lord of Mushrooms show their true selves in 'Warmth in the Wilderness' which is riddled with odd metered grooves, something which this band obviously have a penchant for. What is interesting is that the first couple of songs come across as quite accessible in not particularly technical because of the use of catchy vocal melodies - but obviously that are very technically advanced, drawing a lot on odd time signatures.

This changes with 'Red Queen's Race' which is an overtly technical little instrumental, while 'Raindrops on my Wings' takes the listener through odd metered grooves, rapping and scratching, as well as highly melodic choruses. 'Nyx's Robe' is oddly groovy and features a jazzy fretless bass solo, while the title track is both aggressive and melodic.

Dynamic, spacey, deceptive, and extremely well put together, "Perspectives" is a likely candidate for progressive metal album of the year.

(review originally posted at metalmusicarchives.com)