SOUNDS & SILENCES

I came across this gem just recently, thinking it would be merely an amateur's debut, but I was wrong. The production sounds professional, and the songwriting is as excellent as any other modern prog bands. This band is unique for writing catchy melodies while utilizing both odd time signatures and a variety of chord changes. Of important note is also that they don't sound just like Porcupine Tree, or Opeth, or x band. They sound like themselves. Of course, this is a debut album, so there are flaws, but this album shows great amounts of potential.

The album starts with a powerful opener, an almost immediately hypnotizing acoustic guitar opening. It is a powerful song and for its length never diminishes in power. At some moments, it sounds like Coheed and Cambria's Welcome Home, but with a touch of something unique.

The next track is where the band shows their true colors: combining middle-eastern sounds with extremely melodic and catchy melodies, as well as an intense instrumental section. This is a very good choice for a single, because it is very well-crafted, but is instrumentally powerful enough to make any listener become interested in the band--don't forget to check out the insane drumming.

The Great Divide is definitely one of my favorite tracks of the year. It starts off slightly ambient, with haunting effects and the best vocals yet. This track is basically a conceptual suite, about the divide between a man and woman. Each effect and note of the song is meant to augment the lyrics, such as the sax representing a breath of fresh air, or a wrong chord change representing mistakes; furthermore, this track is really open to interpretation, so let it absorb you and have a lot of fun with it. It's got a lost of twists and turns.

The next two tracks I find is where the album is flawed. You can tell there is a lot of effort put into them, and they're great tracks, but they just bring the quality of the album down a bit, because they're not as good as the previous tracks. They are great tracks nonetheless, and the best part is that they're still growing on me. The acoustic guitars on The Door, however, are outstanding.

In My Dreams brings to mind the best of Ghost Reveries era Opeth but mixes in the new personality belonging exclusively to ABG. This track does not let down. Every note is executed perfectly, producing a powerful haunting effect.

Finally, we get to the epic. This is another great track and definitely has the best use of the saxophone. However, The Great Divide is a slightly stronger piece. The highlight of the epic has to be the trance-inducing ending. Unfortunately that's the ending. It leaves you wanting more.

4.25 stars, a really strong debut effort.

The mind-blowingly beautiful: the ending of Memories

The mind-blowingly insane: the instrumental section of Solitude

The mind-blowingly unexpected: the sax on Great Divide