[atsonicpark]

 

SPIRAL ARCHITECT "A SCEPTIC'S UNIVERSE"
2000, Sensory

If you were to describe the Mars Volta to someone in a very literal sense, only talking about the good parts and not discussing any of the bullshit... that picture in their mind would probably be pretty good: complex, of course... completely idiosynchratic... and rocking. Right? Well, we can all agree that the Mars Volta definitely is those things -- but somehow they suck. However, if you were to take all those elements and multiply them by INFINITY you'd probably get this album. Don't get me wrong -- this doesn't necessarily sound like the Mars Volta, though it is prog and the singer does go into falsetto wails and there are some odd rhythms and guitar solos. I'd liken this more to a band like Necrophagist: completely over-the-top technicality -- I mean, COMPLETELY; "500 time changes a minute" doesn't really do it justice to describe... thoroughly-composed... a headache-inducing racket... but somehow completely musical coherent and accomplished... with one of the weirdest bass sounds I've ever heard. Basically, it's prog without being too "proggy", it's metal without being too "metally", but everything else about it is taken so over the top that it doesn't even seem like humans could make this kind of music. Amongst the most musically complex and accomplished things I'll ever hear, up there with Richard Woodson's Ellipsis in a pure "what-the-fuck-this-is-INSANE!" mindblowing way. If you're a fan of stuff like Dillinger Escape Plan's "Calculating Infinity" or Behold... the Arctopus or whatever else, you'd probably be into this. It doesn't really sound like those bands... or any band I can really think of... but how else can I describe it to sound appealing? "It goes from 7/4 to 4/4 to 3/4 to 16/4 in 1 second!" Does that work?

Amazing album!!!! You just have to hear it to understand.

[batreleaser]

oi havnt heard this band mentioned since this record came out. never really listened to them. theyre not complex for compleity's sake are they?

[atsonicpark]

Hahah no.

See, it's just hard to describe them without talking about how fucking insane they are.

You just have to hear it. It's great.

[Everyneurotic]

adam, i kinda "liked" them when i heard the album, but they sound way too much like dream theater.

they are very wanky...they kinda remind me of this other band that's much better in the whole prog metal thing but i forget the name, they were kinda related to cannibal corpse but sound nothing alike (they were in fact a christian band)and released they released their album on roadrunner when roadrunner was an ok label. i have the name written down somewhere...

[atsonicpark]

I dunno man, I don't hear Dream Theatre in there (besides obviously being complex).

But I'm not a huge prog-metal expert, so if there's something better than this I'd be down to listen. Though for my money, Necrophagist are way better (though they're some form of ultraprog-tech-death).....