COMPASS

"Mountains on the Moon" piano intro and symphonic orchestration before the arrival of a metallic riff; 1'32 '' and it explodes on a tune drawing on a sound of prog metal, the AOR for the voice and chorus-solid rhythmic base; aggressive digressive break on a THRESHOLD relent, layers of keyboards at the end which reminds me of ENCHANT; to follow this voice of Ben which sends very far on the edges progressive metal. "Searching for Answers" ​​with a heavy riff takes us on the tangible barrier of prog metal; however the background tune is eyeing an over-vitamined TOTO with a minimalist keyboard, which means that the group is well beyond these famous drawers; space break then Steve's frenzied solo.

"The Assayer" in the same line with double or triple pedal, nervous and synthetic riff, as the ROGUE MALE did so well in their time; the guitar sound makes me think of SAGA, yes it goes well in every way; break hovering over the aerial bass before launching the melodic-progressive solo, with latent atmosphere, which remains in the lead before the agreed finale. "Once in a Lifetime" well the title that RUSH could have created of course, the voice is different, but the atmosphere, the riff, the drums, the moments... everything is there and there and then we go back to a quality ersatz eyeing TOTO, interesting.

"Laws of Nature Dialogue I: Fly to the Sun" and the beginning of the almost 20-minute triptych for a melodic journey on the laws of nature; it is to be listened to for the melting pot of found notes, the ears make the memory work, to avoid Alzheimer's I think in this way? RUSH, TOTO, ENCHANT as a high point and SAGA for this magical, crystalline, shivering guitar solo . "Laws of Nature Dialogue II: God Only Knows" well separated, a bit my regret for a title in the new wave rock movement of the 80's, I'm thinking of the CARS, for this dancing synthetic sound; the break comes back to punchy prog rock criteria with guitar, rhythmic piano; "Laws of Nature Dialogue III: This Pendulum Swings" begins hovering, jazzy cool, the bass and drums arrive heavy, the piano, TOTO with its marvelous intro in the background; it's beautiful, tacky but so effective this piano setting the rhythm in a monolithic way; a regret to have this impression that we return to the 1st part with the heady chorus; the good side is also the slow musical elaboration in orchestration which diminishes this fact; note the end in chorus. Finally "Theory of Tides" eponymous title, beautiful intro then consensual title with the warm voice of Ben accompanying the air, yet another nervous, colorful, fruity guitar solo which is a pleasure to hear in the line of a COMPASS here.

COMPASS makes melodic prog metal rock, mixing influences from various periods, intensifying the musical images towards space rock for a while. An album following the 'Our Time On Earth' which had intrigued me with this freshness of composition and diverse and subtle reminiscences. COMPASS manages to create a metal- progressive mental universe where sounds go hand in hand with mountain landscapes filled with lush valleys with relaxing waterfalls... An album that smells good of the aforementioned groups but which stands out with its typical rhythmic base.