...IT'S ONLY THE BEGINNING

Chris Mallia's project, Different Strings, focuses on modern progressive rock, primarily of the Neo-Progressive style, but with noticeable metal influences. The music is at times atmospheric, at times quite heavy. I don't think there is a specific well-known Neo-Progressive band that I could compare Different Strings to, but I'm reminded of Everon and Illuvatar every now and then while I listen to ".It's Only the Beginning." I find the music on this record to be slightly more enjoyable than that found on Everon's Fantasma, which while espousing hooks and melodies, seems just a bit lacking in soul. That problem does not plague ".It's Only the Beginning," which is a relief. I have often found that many lesser-known acts tend to focus on technique, as if they're trying to get noticed. That's definitely not the case with Different Strings; the band (which consists of only Mallia and vocalist Alan Mayo) the instrumentation is full-bodied, but certainly not showy. However, every now and then I feel that the instruments are not high enough in the mix, which can make it seem like they're there to support the vocals, something I disdain. If anything, the vocals should add color and texture to the music, not the other way round. This is not a large problem, and I won't degrade the album too much for it.

To continue the airing of negative feelings about this album-a regretful but necessary task-I will say that the production does not strike me as one befitting a first-rate act; I can clearly tell the musicianship is very fine and often intricate, but sometimes the guitar riffs or can sound thin or muddy. Whereas the vocals may seem to me a tad too high in the mix at times, the drums can seem a bit too low, which can give the music a sort of static feeling, as if it is just there, without fully engaging me or surrounding me. I stress that different listeners may have different responses to these supposed shortcomings of the album-these might not even be problems for anyone else-but I feel I must get out in the open all negative feelings I have in order to give spotlight to the positive feelings, which I have plenty of as a matter of fact!

Alright, now with the good news about this fine release. I should say that for a debut album by a up-and-coming act, ".It's Only the Beginning" is far ahead come to expect in terms of level of enjoyment. The music may not be clearing a path through the Great Forest of Progressive Innovation, but I have said over and over and over again that innovation isn't worth the time it takes to speak the word: only the composition and enjoyment of the music counts. One's enjoyment of the music may end up depending on the level of innovation, however. A sad, sad result, I say. ".It's Only the Beginning" delivers most of what I look for when I turn toward Neo-Progressive rock: well-composed, layered, emotional, and atmospheric music. I previously let it be known that I was disappointed with the mix which seemed to put Mayo's vocals at the forefront. This is not to say he is a poor singer. Far from it! I wouldn't say he's the next Gabriel or Anderson, but he's talented and fits the music well. The keyboard, guitar, and other arrangements on "..It's Only the Beginning" are fantastic and deserve the generous amount of presence they receive in the music.

".It's Only the Beginning" is a pleasant release for me, and I suggest it to fan of Everon, Illuvatar, and anyone generally curious about lesser-known neo-Progressive bands.

Chris Mallia has put together an impressive debut under the name of DIFFERENT STRINGS. There is some fine musicianship, and quality composition. The only part of this he didn't handle himself was the vocals. I don't know if Chris can sing or not, but Alan Mayo was a very good choice. His voice suits the music perfectly. On the whole, it's low key, but there are some rocking segments. He pulls off a pretty decent ballad on "Dead Man Walking." What's missing is a spark. There is nothing that really gets me excited here. Technically, there are no problems. It just needs a boost of energy, inspiration, hook, or something. I can't really nail it down, but it doesn't pull me in. What I really see here is promise. One person pulling off a debut album of this quality is quite impressive. The talent is evident. If he continues to grow, this will probably be viewed with much more affection. As it is, I can give it no more than three stars.

H.T. Riekels

Interesting debut release by this artist from Malta.

At the mellowest, the music sounds a bit like a mix between Eloy and Marillion, and influences from classic hard rock acts like Deep Purple and more contemporary prog metal can be heard as well.

It adds up to a very interesting release, where the main drawback is a poor production. Both the general mix as well as the vocals suffers from the production.

Still, a nice debut; and worth checking out for fans of melodic prog with harder edges that aren't addicted to high-tech production.

Smaller countries seem to find their place on the prog map.Bahrain,Luxemburg and now Malta have presented some interesting releases through Osiris,No Name,Supper's Ready and this time is Chris Malia from Malta with his project DIFFERENT STRINGS,named after a Rush song.Malia is around the local scene since 1996,playing and recording with various short-lived bands,before going solo,preferering to choose a band's name for his personal work.For his first album Malia played all instruments and was helped by Alan Mayo on lead and backing vocals.''It's only the beginning...'' came out in 2006 on Progdome Records,a label,behind which has to be Malia himself.

The five tracks are placed so,that they start from the shortest one to end up on the album's opus ''Around the world''.I wouldn't call this album a full-blown prog effort,it is rather a straight rock album with prog and psychedelic leanings...A 3-min. nice keyboard-based grandiose intro will lead the listener to the first real track ''All over again'',which is a rocky guitar-driven song in the vein of ALAN PARSONS PROJECT,characterized by its distorted vocals and even some heavy ethnic tunes after the middle,followed by sharp synths.Just a mediocre track.''Dead man walking'' comes next and this was the band's first single back in 2004.Sorry to say,but if I had heard the track at the time of its release,I wouldn't ever purchase this CD.A boring almost alternative rock track crossed with a FLOYD-ian atmosphere,which carries the same guitar melody and flat vocals for over seven minutes.Skip this one!

Seems thing to change on the 10-min. all instrumental ''Beyond infinity''.At least he have to deal with some real prog music here,like DEEP PURPLE are jamming with DREAM THEATER.Though not that exciting,the track offers some good'n'heavy guitar riffing,decent solos,delicate piano work and strong keyboard acrobatics along the way.Finally a sign of Malia's talent.''Around the world'' comes next and I don't know why we have to wait for almost 4 minutes with needless spacey keys,before the rocking entrance in the vein of ''Season's end''-era MARILLION,followed by GILMOUR-ish soloing and a heavy organ-based DREAM THEATER-influenced middle section.A more relaxed and really pleasant atmosphere with piano,light guitars and flutes will introduce you to the ending section,where sharp keyboards return until the end.A track with irs ups and downs.

The truth is I wouldn't recommend this album to anyone,except modern neo prog fanatics.Malia ran out of ideas during the recordings,as some guitar melodies show again and again,not to mention the similarities between the two last tracks on their DREAM THEATER-inspired parts.However,the man seems to have talent in a couple of moments and supported by a regular band would give him the needed push IMO.Anyway,I think that no more or less than 2 stars trully show my feeling after I listened to this album.