PICTURES FOR SUSCEPTIBLE HOUSEWIVES

A Fifties-style cover and an interesting album title gives nothing away about what one will find when one puts this on the player, and song titles such as "And The Perfect Yellow Walls Will Show You The Magic" doesn't exactly lend themselves to interpretation. But all becomes clear when one finally listens to the music as here we have a band that are refusing to conform in any way whatsoever. The basis of this could probably be best described as instrumental prog metal, but there are huge jazz influences at play here as well. They move between electric and acoustic instruments with ease, each having it's own place in the collage of music they present, and while they can riff out in true Dream Theater style with plenty of counterpoint and aggression the real joy of this album is never being really sure as to what it likely to come next.

With 11 songs and only just over 41 minutes long it is a concise piece of work, with just the one lengthy number, the closing "When The Rain Is Over I'll Say To You: Hasta La Vista" (with some sound snippets from a certain film) which is eight minutes, but generally they have to keep their musical journeys short and to the point. Overall this is quite a debut from this Moldovan quartet, and some five years on from its release I am amazed that there hasn't been a follow-up. I just hope that doesn't mean that these guys are no more as this is well worth investigating. The music is so tight there just isn't any room for a singer or keyboards, and the rhythm section manage to keep it going so that the two guitarists can interweave the melodies. Superb.