CONTROL AND RESISTANCE

I'm a big Jarzombek fan so I'll be blunt but fair, because this is a really very good record. Aside from the fact that the old-school British metal of Maiden and Priest is unmistakably present (it was '89 after all), Ron Jarzombek hadn't quite arrived as the tech demon he'd soon become, and the ground rhythms are generally textbook and derivative, there is much here to admire and appreciate. Particularly at the time. "Extreme Tech" didn't nominally exist yet and the heaviest tech we were getting was from Voivod and a tiny number of others. So there is no doubt this Texas band and Control and Resistance's material and odd fascination with Soviet imagery were important, to say the least. Not as extraordinarily complex and unique as Jarz's later work with Spastic Ink or Blotted Science, but impressive by almost any standard.

Grim 'Instruments of Random Murder' and similar 'The Eldritch' are okay but nothing to write home about, though Alan Tecchio's Dickinsonian highs and phrasing navigate the vivacissimos nicely. More interesting is 'Mayday in Kiev' where the preoccupation with Bolshevism starts to emerge complete with angry mobs in the streets and sweet little self-harmonies from Jarz woven in to the smart chord progressions. This stride is kept for very nice and imperceptibly jazzy 'The Fall of Reason' featuring a squealer from Ron, followed by the solid title cut, companion piece 'Hidden Instincts', vaguely Rush-like 'Life Cycles', and kick-ass 'Dangerous Toy'.

Just a hint of what was to come from a guitar genius like no other, Watchtower's second is highly admirable tech-metal when almost no one was ready to either play or listen to it, and should satisfy most thinking headbangers.