WHEN TIME STOPS

I have to confess and say that I don't know that many bands from Venezuela, but apparently these guys have been around for some ten years and have now produced their debut, which has been made available through Musea. I think the only question now is will we have to wait another ten for the next one? I certainly hope not! The band is made up of Ricardo Figueroa (vocals), Carlos Cabrices (guitar), Ricardo Nunez (drums), and Antonio Ramirez (keyboards), (other instruments are provided by guests). Now, musically they come across very much in the realm of Dream Theater, but when one looks a little more deeply at their history possibly that isn't too surprising as they have similar backgrounds, in that the three musicians are all professionally trained. Rodrigo N attended "Ars Nova School of Music", a Berklee oriented school where he got his musical degree, Antonio attended Los Teques Musical Conservatory for two years while Carlos attended Simon Bolivar Musical Conservatory to study classical guitar and then attended I.U.D.E.M, a Venezuelan musical college where he got his musical degree and majored in composition.

Ricardo F needs to be at the very top of his game to cope with this, but he knows how to cut a dashing James LaBrie vocal, with great range and power, and he has no problem hitting the heights that have been set by those around him. But what really makes this really stand out for me is that not only are these guys great performers who can be as complex and complicated as any in the genre, they also know how to write songs that are immediate and controlled. Of the eight songs on offer, only two get to the nine minute long so no drawn out epics here, although they are obviously more than capable of doing them if they wished. They are quite staccato in much of their playing, which gives a real edge to the overall sound, and they are incredibly tight, with everyone really hitting the marks. I was a little surprised to see that they don't have a permanent bassist, as they do allow that instrument to take the main role (there is some beautiful fretless bass on "Beware of the Birds" for example) when the need is there and don't keep it hidden in the background.

Overall this is a stunning debut, and if you enjoy complex prog metal then you can't afford to let this one pass you by.