BORDERLINE SYNDROME

Images and Words can't express how heavy this Greek band sounds at times. The Astonishing thing about Borderline Syndrome is they're listed under Eclectic Prog, but with sledgehammer power chords that border on Heavy Metal, especially on their two heaviest numbers, "Innocent and Blue" and the final track, "Descending", which sound like borderline Dream Theater. There's no chance of dreaming your way through this sonic attack either, so better batten down the hatches and secure all loose articles, as this Hellenic quintet are set to raise merry Hell and rattle your crockery. Right from the opening artillery barrage of "In Rainbows", the unrelenting awesome power of this album will leave you wide-eyed and breathless, and with enough latent energy in reserve to wake up the neighbours. This bunker-busting album of heavy construction should come with a hard hat, Doc Marten boots and a high-visibility jacket. The expressive wailing vocalist Sophia Sarri has a unique voice that once heard, you'll never forget, and with the kind of howling banshee vocal range you haven't heard since Siouxsie Sioux first howled and hollered her way into our consciousness. And so, with a thunderous album that's loud enough to Awaken the dead, Borderline Syndrome are set to go the Distance Over Time, especially if you're a fan of Dream Theater. Finally, if you're unlucky enough to suffer from borderline personality syndrome, I can't promise this album will come to your emotional rescue, but it will help to temporarily lift your spirits and give you a nice caffeine boost, without even needing to venture anywhere near Starbucks.

Clearly, this Athens-based quintet, in a ''Stateless'' condition are occupied by musical ''Borderline Syndromes'' that only aid in making the listening of their debut album an interesting journey!

Led by the somewhat obscure, for some difficult to digest, yet dynamic, tone of vocalist Sophia Sarri, the quintet delivers progressive rock that quite comfortably performs acrobatics on the borderlines of eclectic and crossover tendencies. From relaxed, jazz/psychedelic passages to heavy prog/metal riffologies and back again, ''Stateless'' is a statement of well-worked compositions forged from a crucible of so many and diverse influences.

There is no denying that the album sits in the sphere of creative progressive rock, often allowing itself to experiment relentlessly, touching avant-garde and even latin (!) territories (see the mostly instrumental ''Shock Doctrine''), but always remaining faithful to the cause of creating a balanced and structured result - numbers such as ''In Rainbows'' and ''I Have my Eyes on You'' help towards this direction. There is a little a bit of everything for everyone: Muse and Radiohead influences tuned to a delightful level of quirkiness (''Thank you'' indeed ''for Being Honest''!), the new wave of alternative/heavy prog of The Mars Volta (''Innocent and Blue'' and ''Descending'') and a couple of tracks that further differentiate their sound from the ''norm'' (if there was any...). ''Balloons'' and ''Inflated Society'' are the longest tracks and personal favourites, blending experimental metal (The Gathering/Indukti, especially on the former) with a strong Greek music element. The ''zeimpekiko'' tempo (!) followed on the latter simply proves the breadth and depth of experimentation, matching incredibly well with the King Crimson "shadow" that never leaves the album.

This is an excellent example of eclectic progressive rock and creates high hopes for the future of Borderline Syndrome and the entire Greek scene.

originally composed for www.justincaseradio.com