MILE MARKER ZERO

1. A Time in Place solemn piano-vocal intro, a bit of wind to feel the shivers 2. Best Is Yet to Come à la Steven Wilson, RUSH and YES start off with something to prick the ear; a cathartic chorus with a wild guitar solo to layer the sound. John launches a melodic shred in the vein of Lifeson or Howe, take your pick; Jaco hits his bass on Squire, the latent break, simple, effective, mysterious, perfect with this warm finale between FROST* and Neal MORSE heavy, slap 3. Towns to Grow Up In for the nostalgic hymn to our homes that form us, a typical US sound, the voice, the sharp guitar, the reminiscent sounds surely; the bass again there recalling RUSH from the 80s, John's very good solo announcing the prog drift that is worth its musical weight, a modern yessian spleen sound without the original 10 minutes of introduction 4. Bizarre that made me stop mountain biking, a well-calibrated trip-hop like WILSON, synth from SIMPLE MINDS, the rhythm on a Peter GABRIEL, alternating between the clear piano and the dark danceable beat with its beautiful final rise and the circumspect air of thinking that it was indeed another group, bluffing.

5. Coming of Age drives the point home with these Gabrielelesque marimbas and the swinging tune, making your old skeleton sway; these soothing metronomic notes with its schoolyard break, proven world music, its grandiloquent piano and this Gilmourian acoustic solo, Howien delivers the emotional moment with the final explosion à la DIRE STRAITS, look for the title, grandiose 6. Heavy Days heavier, hard rock with an acoustic guitar verse at the start and a screamed chorus whose voice must be tamed; a heavier Neal... MORSE ersatz, a little overplayed here which shows the metallic side well 7. Far from Here and its symphonic prog intro which shows the ease of the group to move from one drawer to another; a TANGERINE DREAM sound in the background like the marimba in one of the previous titles; otherwise RUSH, energetic ENCHANT, a fast solo, the heady voice, too high and a finale on this primary beat 8. End of August in a typical AOR finale, a bit of everything in fact for the folk ballad which is worth it for its central digression on the piano, this Mark is good at building a prog universe with so little; the acoustic then electric guitar for the explosive finale bringing back to the first title of 'The Best is Yet to Come', yes the prog is there.

Even though I personally have never been a huge fan alternative rock, seeing it as somewhat of an unholy offspring of the early '90s Grunge, there is still plenty to enjoy here! Mile Marker Zero do offers their listeners an epic-styled, approach on quite a few occasions, without making the results sound cheesy like many of so called Progressive Metal acts seem to do these days. Dave Alley might sometimes come off as trying to embody the persona of Scott Stapp, but that might just be my prejudice taking the best of me. Well, I guess you'll have to give songs like Plead My Case and Surrender a spin to actually see where you stand on this whole issue!

The definite crown jewel of The Hunted EP comes right towards its end with the 7 minute title track. This is easily the most progressive piece of music that Mile Marker Zero delivers on this release and it will guaranty to make the fans scream for more. Others, more conservative of us, will probably just shrug their shoulders and move on. Since I'm still undecided as to whether I'm a fan or not, let's keep things at good, but non-essential rating.

**** star songs: The Keeper (7:01) Agoraphobia (5:55) The Haunted (7:12)

*** star songs: Plead My Case (3:49) Surrender (4:10)