INTO THE EVERFLOW

I had a surprisingly different initial reaction to this classic recording compared to many of my fellow collaborators. Not only was I not impressed by my first spin of this album, but I also found it quite irritating at times which made repeated listens unbearable at the time. My solution was to put the CD aside, for safekeeping of a sorts, and try to come back to it at a different point in time. This solution took quite some to for me to work but fortunately it turned out for the better!

Into The Everflow is a magnificent album which, I can safely say, grows on it's audiences over time. At first you might only grab bits and pieces of these quite intriguing compositions but it will all come around in due time. Ashes is one of the few numbers that still doesn't sit too well with me, but that's just because of my unfortunate first encounter with this slowly building composition that left a bad taste in my mouth that I'm still not sure can be remedied with time. Fortunately this intro of a sorts soon transforms into a very nice composition and what follows after it can only be summarized as one of the best, if not the best, progressive metal composition of all time!

Not only does Out Of Mind hit it's listeners as a punch right in the gut, but it also generates an instant and long-lasting appeal for the performance of all the participating musicians. It's simply a perfect piece of progressive music that would, in my opinion, have made a much more effective album opener than Ashes. The album's title track is another obvious winner with the exception of a few profound-sounding but overall very pretentious lyrics that make the experience hilarious for me. The instrumental section of the piece is just marvelous and I honestly have nothing even remotely bad to say about it at the end of the day.

The next really awesome composition takes it's time to come around, but once it does we're treated to a trilogy of tracks that can easily be defined as a tour de force for Psychotic Waltz. Hanging On A String is really a weird sounding ballad to come after all these strong metallic pieces but I completely blows the listener away with both it's instrumental prowess and lyrical content. Things get even weirder with the off-beat Freakshow and finally Butterfly, the latter features some of the best performances featured from the collective. This, in my opinion, clearly cements their reputation as the first really great band to come out of the progressive metal sub-genre of the early '90s.

There is really not much more I can say about this album that wouldn't make it sound like a complete fanboy praising, so I'll just make it simple for you - get this album!

***** star songs: Out Of Mind (4:45) Tiny Streams (5:02) Into The Everflow (8:18) Hanging On A String (3:49) Butterfly (9:18)

**** star songs: Ashes (5:09) Freakshow (5:40)

*** star songs: Little People (4:07)