A WARM GLIMPSE

I started listening to this CD in the car, and thought to myself that here was yet another Death Metal band. But hang on; although the vocals were pure Death, the guitars seemed to be just a little too clean. So when the vocals and music moved into more melodic rock I wasn't too surprised, although I have to confess that I never expected it to move into laid-back lounge. From there the only musical path to take was straight back hard into the heavy stuff. I knew without looking at the CD that this had to have been released by Elitist as they seem to be capturing the market in this style of progressive rock. Many neo-prog fans would shudder at any attempt to describe this music in that way, but this is music that it attempting to cross boundaries (successfully), so surely this really is progressing in the correct sense of the word instead of being regressive?

Farmakon recorded a three song demo in 2001 and then posted it onto www.mp3.com, and were surprised to be contacted by Lee Barrett of Elitist within a few days offering them a deal. Of course, they then had to go off and write some more songs as they only had the three! This is an album that has a lot to offer, from Death to gentle acoustic pieces, but they are played within the same song.

This is an album that is adventurous and compelling, yet can also be hard to listen to just because the music shifts so abruptly. Definitely not for those who follow the mainstream, this album is a delight, and those who want music that can be extremely heavy but is definitely out of the ordinary should seek this out.

Originally appeared in Feedback #76, Oct 2003