INK COMPLETE

In the liner notes the band thank a lot of individuals but they also thank: "Our friends in DREAM THEATER and FATES WARNING". Pretty cool to see lead guitarist Ron Jarzombek playing with his brother Bobby, who plays drums.Talented family. Pete Perez plays bass and thanks "beer" in the liner notes. Haha. This is a lot of fun, and in the liner notes there's a cartoon picture beside each song and a story about that tune.That humour and the vocals are the main differences between this and "Control And Resistance" by WATCHTOWER. Funny but I like that WATCHTOWER album quite a bit more, even with the "over the top" vocals. Maybe part of my problem is having spent a lot of time with Ron's latest instrumental band called BLOTTED SCIENCE which for me is a lot more enjoyable than this. I just find this album hit and miss.

The biggest "miss" is the only song they didn't compose called "A Wild Hare". I just can't get past the Steve Vai-like guitar on this one. I wish they just stuck to their own music. You know the way Vai makes his guitar almost speak, well that's what Ron's doing on this track for the most part. There's a lot more to like on this album then dislike though. "See, And It's Sharp" is great because it's darker and doesn't sound like the rest. I like when the drums come in then let off. Back and forth. The guitar then comes in sounding amazing."Eights Is Enough" is more relaxed for a change and darker. The guitar before 3 minutes is the best part of the album.

Technical music doesn't always work for me, but I love it when it does.This is a cd I don't really enjoy enough to give 4 stars. It's worth more then that for the playing alone, but I just don't get off on it like I do on SPIRAL ARCHITECT, ZERO HOUR or BLOTTED SCIENCE. I probably would have given it 4 stars if the longest track "A Wild Hare" wasn't on here. 3.5 stars.