ACCELERATION THEORY, PART TWO - ANNIHILATION

In Continuum is another project from Dave Kerzner after the end of Sound of Contact because of the departure of 2 members and financial problems. The music here is an evolution of Sound of Contact with the same inspiration of Dave coming from the 70's prog of Yes, Genesis and more obvious Pink Floyd later period. We have plenty of accessible symphonic prog rock music centered around a sci-fi story around the concept of love. We can feel an uplifting atmosphere throughout the album carried by some impressive work from the vocals and some sumptuous keyboard melodies. If you hope to find some guitar solos here, you won't find much here, it's the keys, piano and the vocals that have the lead. Dave always chooses some big prog rock musicians to help him and which gives a variety of styles and textures. This album is like part two of a double album that you can listen to like one big piece reflecting the different parts of the story with some ambient passages, some short heavier parts and some of the themes that are nicely repeated throughout the album. I enjoy those short and darker passages, some instrumental sections even though most of the album is driven by light and joyful, sometimes nostalgic atmosphere that is centered around strong melodies. Often an album loses his intensity before the end, but in this case, Dave has created music that you can't stop listening after more than an hour.

Singer, keyboard player and guitarist Dave Kerzner (Sound of Contact) is back with the second album from In Continuum, continuing the story which started in 'Acceleration Theory, Part One ? AlienA', and is based on a science fiction short from Dave, set in the year 2074. The core band is the same as before, with singer Gabriel Agudo (Steve Rothery Band, Bad Dreams), bassist Matt Dorsey (Sound of Contact), guitarist Randy McStine (Sound of Contact, The Fringe), and drummer Marco Minnemann. This project has always expected to bring in more musicians as the need arises, and among the additional singers we get both Jon Davidson and Michael Sadler, while Nick D'Virgilio, Fernando Perdomo and Joe Deninzon all make welcome returns as well as other musicians.

In Continuum continues the style of commercial heavily polished progressive rock I have come to expect from Kerzner, which is always incredibly easy to get into and contains multiple layers yet somehow manages to maintain a pop simplicity. In just one song the guys can move all over the place, so much so that "Made of Stars" commences life as a Devin Townsend Project number (although not as heavy) before moving into Gabriel territory, then throwing in some Porcupine Tree for good measure. There are plenty of moments in songs when one thinks "that's a bit like classic Genesis" or similar, but before the brain has time to register the music has moved on. My favourite song is the title track, which is near the end of the album. Gentle keyboards overlay the sounds of war, the piano comes in, and slowly we start to build but then it all fades away leaving just the radio transmissions. I don't know which drummer plays on this track, but I would lay money on this being Nick as he brings in the rest of the band with his bombastic style, all over the kit, and then all of a sudden we are off and running with some rock riffs. This song has everything for me, pace, dynamics, great performances, and oh yes, it is 20 minutes long and I love every bit of it.

In Continuum have now released two great albums, definitely worth investigating by anyone into commercial layered and modern polished progressive rock.