ENOUGH BLAME TO GO AROUND

Was very pleased to find out this weekend that Disconnect has released another new album. I was a big fan of their last album, which showed the band moving in a slightly symphonic direction. But "Enough Blame To Go Around" reveals the band has turned up the gain on their amps and shifted back into the realm of heavier prog. This review is based on the MP3 download link the band has provided for Prog Archive members.

The opening track "Adventures In Taxidermy" grabs you right away. I'm hearing a bigger keyboard sound on this than I've heard in most of their previous work. This is a good thing. The first guitar solo has some really nice intertwining rhythm guitar and piano work happening. The choruses will bring to mind a Neal Morse feel, which is something this band has shown us in the past (again, a good thing). Incredibly dense and heavy middle section gives way to a Crimson-esque interlude heading back into the chorus again. Lyrics are pretty sinister throughout, enjoyed those as well. Eschrich's drums are astounding, as always. I'm noticing a larger presence of backing vocals as well than I've heard from these guys in the past.

"Inside Job" is a rousing instrumental in the spirit of late-era King Crimson (TCOL, Power To Believe, etc). Really great guitar work here, and once again I hear a more prevalent keyboard presence than in albums past. Great track.

Next up....whew...."Falling Man". As a previous reviewer pointed out, this is a song which details the events of 9/11 as well as all the various political/social implications of West vs. East. The music likewise shows the same duplicity as the lyrics. An overwhelmingly powerful track, not just for its thematic content but the music alone is an incredible journey. The band shifts from western forms to eastern forms flawlessly (especially a breathtaking middle section where we hear a Middle Eastern-flavored acoustic breakdown). Powerful, powerful stuff. In my opinion the band's finest moment to date.

"Sufficient" is next - a deceptive track that at first feels a bit straightforward but soon gives us another example of the band's crafty songwriting skills. Guitar leads are once again top-notch, and I'm also a big fan of the bass lines in this song. No doubt this is the most 'accessible' song on the album, but clocking in at over 9:00 in length, is deceptively complex.

Next the longest track, "Twisting the Knife". First 2:00 are very mellow, and to be honest it is refreshing after listening to the relative heaviness of the first 4 tracks. Another song with dark lyrical content, this track may well be the most complex on the album although "Falling Man" still wins out due to the stark nature of its content. My absolute favorite guitar work on the entire album are found in the leads of this song, some of the solos are simply SOARING. You'll hear flavors of David Gilmour and even Stevie Ray Vaughan.

I've been a big supporter of this band on past albums - "Enough Blame To Go Around" not only shows a band evolving into better songwriters, but also the evolution of the secondary parts of their sound - the bass and keyboards here on the new album are much more prevalent than in the past. The vocal work by O'Dell on this album is, without question, his best to date. Eschrich's drumming remains impeccable and overwhelming on all levels.

Highly recommended, a great example as to why independent "unknown" bands cannot be overlooked.