Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons. 1995 USA

After Falling into Infinity was released, there was a feeling of dread that Dream Theater were no more prog - or metal for that matter - but they had sold out to commercialism. It appears this EP was the band's reaction to that. "Oh no, we're still really prog and metal, ya know..." Dream Theater have always been a very self-conscious group, for better or worse. I mentioned on my review of Falling into Infinity that I had exited the bandwagon after Awake, but I had forgotten about this album (and Falling into Infinity isn't so bad really). Because I did buy A Change of Seasons real time and thought it was great. But I was really going deep into prog at this point, so it was to be the end of me and Dream Theater for another seven years. 

In hearing this album again for the first time in nine years, I found it better than my last listen. A 23 minute prog metal epic by one of the bulwarks of the business is still going to satisfy my ears all these years later. So I'm back to my original rating. The remainder of the album are cover tunes, all more or less under the guise of "bonus". I'm not usually fond of this idea, but fine, it was only to fill out the disc. And they do a good job at performing their unique interpretation of each.

Ownership: CD: 1995 EastWest. One of the few commodity CDs I plan on keeping.

1995; 6/8/14; 12/29/23 (new entry)

Germinale - …e il suo Respiro Ancora Agita le Onde… 1995 Italy

At one point I owned the first three Germinale albums but sold the other two long ago. As I was digging into this release I had begun to wonder why I kept it. Somewhat typical stilted digital sound. Which is becoming a familiar theme, as I said pretty much the same thing about Malibran's third offering. Then comes the flute and vintage keyboards and away we go into proggy Italian land. Another one of those albums that asks that you withhold judgement until you've absorbed the contents in its entirety. Another fine +1 listen. I see this whole weed out thing is going to be impossible to execute on. Hmmm....

Ownership: CD: 1995 Mellow. Jewel case release with lyric booklet. Purchased new near the time of release (1996).

1996; 7/13/06; 11//09; 6/20/13; 9/25/23 (new entry)

Don Caballero - Don Caballero 2. 1995 USA-Pennsylvania

If there was ever a genre I only needed one album of, it's Math Rock. A friend sent me a cassette dub not long after this release, and I was very much intrigued by it, and subsequently bought the CD. To my ears, it sounded like a condensed extract of the most intense parts of King Crimson's Starless & Bible Black, and Red. It was later that I learned that Pittsburgh's Don Caballero were a pioneer in a movement known as math rock. Well, I concluded, I must be a fan of math rock then! I owned a couple of other Don Caballero's, plus a handful of other groups playing in a somewhat similar style. None of which excited me too much, and now they're all gone from the collection, except Don Caballero 2. And I'm keeping it because it reminds me of the intense parts of King Crimson's mid 70's era :-) . Pretty much what you get here is a powerful, guitar fronted, instrumental progressive rock. It can be a bit monotonous and annoying in places, but mostly it delivers the goods. One just has to be in the mood for an onslaught like this. Melodies aren't their strong suit. For what it's worth, Don Caballero apparently distanced themselves from the term math rock as well, which makes sense to me.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Touch & Go. Simple jewel case release, but do love the imagery of Pittsburgh's industrial past. Bought this at Rush-Mor in Milwaukee in 1997, nearby to where I was working at the time.

6/27/97; 7/16/20 (new entry)

Eldritch - Seeds of Rage. 1995 Italy

Seeds of Rage is the debut album from Eldritch, a long running Italian progressive metal band that is active until this day. Though their name was taken from a Watchtower song, Eldritch are clearly more entrenched in the Dream Theater school, rather than the ultra technical namesake band.

I first purchased this album enthusiastically not long after its release. A few years later, when purging some progressive metal titles - a style I was tiring of at the time - the album found its way on a bus out of here. Fast forward about 20 years, and I decided to pick up the album one more time, to much better success. And six years later, we're checking it out again.

In retrospect, Eldritch's debut is a fine progressive metal album, that does just enough to separate from the pack. No doubt influenced by the technical, and somewhat speedy variation, of Dream Theater's early 90s output. The music is straight out of the 90s metal handbook, with high pitched vocals, thrashy riffs, complicated rhythms, digital synthesizers, and a rather slick production. There's not a lot of variation in their tones, so it can get a bit monotonous after awhile if not paying strict attention. There's no stand out tracks, yet everything is well performed, and the music has enough meter changes and compositional differences to keep it interesting. A solid entry in the large book of prog metal albums. Worth checking out.

Ownership: CD: 2006 LMP (Europe). Superb package in a slipcase with a full sized poster. Also includes a handful of interesting bonus tracks, which were early demos.

1997; 5/1/14; 7/16/20 (review / new entry)

Kadwaladyr - The Last Hero. 1995 France

One of the more misunderstood albums, Kadwaldyr's album The Last Hero is a victim of those who set the wrong expectation. Despite being on France's preeminent progressive rock label Musea, Kadwaldyr were nothing of the sort. Nor were they really Celtic Rock either. Rather they belong to a larger branch of music known loosely as world fusion, and for certain there's an underlying Celtic theme throughout. The band make no bones that they are celebrating their origins of hailing from the Breton region. In addition, the choice of tones and production are 90s digital plastic all the way. Almost nothing of analog can be found here beyond the basics of electric guitars and bass.

No doubt the above does not read well.  However, The Last Hero has a wonderful groove that just won't quit, and the Celtic melodies are pleasing in this setting. It would serve well as background music in a bar, or makes for pleasant driving music. Once you have an idea of what the music is, and what it sets out to do, then The Last Hero is an accomplished album in its own right.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Musea. Fine new album presentation with explanations of each track. Purchased new upon release.

Ozric Tentacles - Become the Other. 1995 England

Seems every time I talk about Ozric Tentacles it feels like I've already had that discussion. :-) Become the Other was the first Ozric album I didn't buy real time since Erpland. I had tired of their sound by the mid 90s and the reviews indicated that Become The Other wasn't any more different. But a couple of years later I picked up the CD and enjoyed it immensely, perhaps the break in action being the key. In retrospect, Become the Other is one of their stronger releases, and features a few of their classics, especially the opener 'Cat DNA' along with 'Vibuthi' and 'Wob Glass'. If only looking to pick up a few Ozric albums, I would suggest this should be in that lot.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Dovetail. Standard new CD jewel case layout. 

1997; 4/19/20 (new entry)

Varix - Morbid Tribute To Distortion. 1991 - 1995 Germany (archival)

Varix were an obscure thrash band from Germany who had ties with another long forgotten group that we just spoke about: Skeptic Sense. Like with the latter, there's a modern CD reissue on Divebomb that covers their entire canon of work. Given the background, I went forward with Varix expecting something similar...

...Somewhat I suppose, but not really. Varix are much more straightforward than the labyrinthine Skeptic Sense. Not to say Varix aren't creative or progressive - far from it - but much more in line with the inventive thrash bands of the era. The CD itself is interesting in that it presents the later material first (not counting a recent reunion add on) and works its way back to the beginning. I think from a listening perspective it would have been better to hear the band evolve - in both sound and songwriting. So with that, I'll discuss it in chronological order.

Based on what I can ascertain, 1991's Morbus Cron was actually released on cassette professionally (see scan at the bottom). Sort of a demo release I suppose. This would be their only official release until this archival CD. The sound here is raw and reedy. For 1991 it's not particularly heavy, and there's an underlying punk vibe throughout, especially the driving bass work and gang style vocals. Certainly there's plenty of sophistication in the meter breaks, but not overwhelmingly so. At this point, they sound like a more adventurous Exodus - as found in someone's garage. Two years later Tribute to Fate was recorded. Here's where the band adopts a much more crunchy and modern sound. It's not easy to describe, but it's very full and crisp. It seems almost edible. Musically the band follow a similar path to Morbus Cron, but with more complexity. And that leads us to the beginning as it were with 1995's Harmonic Distortion. Here it seems Varix has taken their Exodus roots and added a big heap of Anacrusis to the mix (minus the histrionic vocals of said band). Certainly their most progressive and intriguing tracks to date. I would recommend hearing the album in this order, otherwise each successive phase will seem less accomplished than before. The opposite effect for a quality listen. It's worth mentioning that the 2016 reformation track is not a mere throw-in, and picks up nicely from their Harmonic Distortion output. There was talk of a reunion effort, but you know how that goes.

Overall another worthy adventurous German progressive metal band to consider, though not as complex (Sieges Even, Skeptic Sense) or as nutty (Payne's Gray, Cant) as others from there we've covered in the past. But miles better than the usual straight ahead Euro styled power metal we get from Germany.

Personal collection
CD: 2016 Divebomb (USA)

Usual great retrospective from Divebomb. There are copious liner notes, lyrics, photos, etc... contained within the fat booklet. As is custom for the label, the historical notes are gathered via an interview with the band. There are quite a bit of differences of opinion in their remembrance (respectfully I might add) which made it even that much more interesting to read.

Node. 1995 England

Before AirSculpture, Radio Massacre International, Under The Dome, and Redshift, there was Node - the group primarily given credit for kicking off the entire retro-Tangerine Dream movement in the UK. As with most pioneers, I don’t think they were as cognizant of recreating a style as they were compiling a vast array of influences and then proceeding to move them forward in an exciting way. As such, this isn’t nearly the dead-on Rubycon meets Timewind sound the others have striven so hard to emulate. A full four member group with Modular Moog, Ring Modulated trumpet, "The Putney", and "Interactive Phase Synthesizer", Node engage in all sorts of random possibilities that the style affords. Radical, groundbreaking, richly produced, rhythmically interesting, and brilliant.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Deviant

11/19/18 (new entry)

Inner Sanctum - Knowledge At Hand. 1989-1995 England (archival)

Holy Smokes! This is the good stuff right here. Fans of progressive metal meeting technical metal will be pleased with this archival compilation from Inner Sanctum (pre Fifth Season for the five people who have heard that CD). It features 6 demos, of which 5 of them sound like early Watchtower meets Psychotic Waltz. Very complex metal, yet they never lose sight of the song. And the vocals are somewhat in control, so it isn't non-stop ball squeezer shrieking. Being British, they have an inherent knack for more restraint than their American counterparts - at the points where restraint is needed. I suppose if I had to pick a favorite demo, it would have to be Sensorium (1992) which shows Inner Sanctum at their heaviest, and perhaps most technical too. First demo Fear is Life's Blood (1989), is almost a completely different lineup and the band here is more in the Slayer / Celtic Frost mold. Certainly not a bad thing, and enjoyable in its own right. Different that's all.

Personal collection
CD: 2013 Divebomb (USA 2xCD)

This is a 2 CD set and features full historical liner notes via an interview with the band - and many photos. A must own item that will for certain provide enjoyment over many repeated listens.

CD1:
Tracks 1-3: Knowledge At Hand (1995 demo)
Tracks 4-9: Questions? (1994 demo)
Tracks 10-12: Shine (1993 demo)

CD2:
Tracks 1-3: Sensorium (1992 demo)
Tracks 4-6: Static Veins (1991 demo)
Tracks 7-9: Fear Is Life's Blood (1989 demo)

Today the band has been rechristened Synaptik, and their debut turned out to be awesome as well (see next post).

Last listen: February 24, 2015

Catharsis - Pathways to Wholeness. 1995 USA

Catharsis were an obscure prog/tech thrash metal act from San Diego that came and went without notice and this album is incredibly scarce. 1995 was a little late to dinner for this type of metal, and the fact it only managed a release on an obscure Danish imprint couldn't have helped matters. Meaning, it would have been expensive to buy one back home for the local audience, if such an audience even existed. During this time, I used to buy albums just like this from a mail order firm in Indiana, and I don't recall this title at all. Or... it was too expensive... ha! By pure happenstance I secured a new one for $8 within the last month. So what do we have here anyway?

Well, you're a band from San Diego and you play a complex form of metal. Now who could possibly have been an influence here? You can bet your sweet bippy on it - Psychotic Waltz. Which means aces from me anyway. It's a guidepost, but of course with music such as this, the possibilities are endless, and Catharsis has their own unique recipe. You'll hear other early 90s variations on this same sound (Anacrusis, Realm, etc..). The music is heavy metal that is densely complex, with undertones of thrash and jazz fusion, the latter is slipped in naturally and unobtrusively. The vocals are genre-standard higher pitch, and somehow fits the music - once your ears have adjusted to this style. 'Casting Stones' has to be heard to be believed, a labyrinthian composition that will keep you guessing throughout.

Certainly Catharsis isn't the first album you should own in this most unique of metal genres. Nor will it be given its scarcity. But for deep divers, and that's who you will be if you're reading this, it's one to buy if you see it. Experience tells me music like this tends to grow in stature over repeated listens, once your brain is able to comprehend the contents within.

Personal collection
CD: 1997 Nordic Metal (Denmark)

Snowdonia - Pallas. 1995 Spain

Well, now, isn't this a little gem hiding deep in my collection? Snowdonia is a band named after a national park region in Northern Wales. So, of course, they were formed in Madrid, Spain and the album was released in Italy. Snowdonia were part of the retro late 1960s boom that was all the rage in the middle 90s. And thus sounds like a mid 1990's band doing late 60's psychedelic progressive - especially to these 2015 ears (as I write this). Keeping up here? We're talking the type of band that Freak Emporium and Crohinga Well were pushing hard back in the day. The album was recorded in 1994/95, but not released until 1999 by Mellow.

A strong folk element is apparent with the female (some male) vocals (mostly Spanish with a smattering of English), though this squarely comes from the proto-prog cookbook of 1970. The keyboard ingredients include (typing from liners): Mini-Moog, Arp (sic), Leslie Hammond (sic again), Fender Rhodes, Mellotron, and Solina. Well, I hear no Mellotron, and the Solina is an ARP synth, one would hope they knew that (hmmm). Honestly I'm hearing a lot of simulated sounds, and they are cheating here a bit. Soooo '90s of them to do that (sigh, miss those days). And really, authenticity aside, who cares? The music is great, perhaps a bit sloppy - with little purpose other than to create interesting progressive psychedelic music, that is entirely their own, despite obvious past influences. And I haven't even hit the highlight yet: The wonderful psychedelic guitar playing of band leader Daniel Galera. The album improves as it goes, and with guest flute on the latter tracks, the music elevates to an entirely new level. Pallas peaks on the final track, the instrumental 'A Demon That's Dreaming', with wordless female voice, haunting keyboards, changing meters, and screaming fuzz guitar.

Ownership: CD: 1999 Mellow

Talk about under the radar. To illustrate this point, I am the first to register the CD on Discogs. Pallas is an album that is sadly long forgotten. The good news is that the CD is still readily available if any of this captures your imagination. I'm not selling mine that's for sure.

Spyros adds: "I agree that it is a sadly underrated album. Female vocals aside, the music in parts reminds me of a more laid-back early Camel. Great instrumental flight, but I don't like the vocals, unfortunately."

8/10/15 (new entry)

Payne's Gray - Kadath Decoded. 1995 Germany

One of the most oddball, out-of-nowhere, metal releases of all time. I bought this CD not long after it was released, and it remains one of the most intriguing metal albums in the collection. The group had a couple of demos in the early 90s, released the full length Kadath Decoded, and then disappeared into the ether without a trace. Most metal bands have "band trees" that would make an 1800s Kentucky hillbilly proud, with so much inbreeding among the groups, it seems they're all a big one-toothed family. But Payne's Gray were the ultimate outsiders. It appears only bassist Martin Mannhardt continued on, landing in the hard rock group Wicked Sensation. There is a Facebook page, but it's from a loyal fan trying to keep the name alive, not an official sanction.

The album itself is as strange as the group's isolation. It's not even until the 3rd track, almost 10 minutes in, does one begin to realize that it is a metal album at all. The compositions are certainly 90s styled "prog metal", but the instrumentation is far more diverse than the usual riffing and crunch on top of the chords emanating from that week's latest digital keyboard contraption - along with some eunuch screaming about something no one cares about. Nope - on Kadath Decoded there's flute, acoustic guitar, and real singing and lyrics as well. The music doesn't appear to be based in genre norms, and had it been released 20 years earlier, most assuredly would be under consideration for my "Wonderful Freaky Underground" list. There's no other album quite like this one, and I find it endearing because of it. That's not to say it's not recognizable - oh no not that - it's still very familiar. Like a skewed camera shot of your living room. They took their one crack at creating a unique vision of an album concept based on Lovecraft, and left something to ponder for years to come. A real head-scratcher for sure.

Ownership: CD: 1995 private. The poster cover doesn't fit in the jewel case, so you'll probably have to store it outside unless you want it shredded.

1997; 3/7/15 (new entry); 7/9/20

Happy Family. 1995 Japan

Perhaps no band arrived with such an in-your-face sound as Happy Family did in 1995. Their fabled live shows were popular amongst the tape trading crowd of the early 1990s. So there was quite a bit of buzz on what their first CD would sound like. The band insisted their albums come out on the preeminent Avant Prog label Cuneiform, and were willing to wait until that label had room on their release schedule. By 1995, anticipation was high, and Happy Family not only delivered, but exceeded, most everyone's expectation.

Consider the first track 'Rock & Young'. Hard to imagine anyone delivering such a strong overpowering opening punch as Happy Family did here. If this track doesn't move your heart rate up a few beats, you're probably dead already, and no one told you (did Aunt Sally forget your birthday for the first time? well, there you go...). And it gets more intense from there. With fuzz bass, fiery sustain electric guitar, staccato piano, buzzing synthesizers, spastic rhythms, and an incredible imagination, Happy Family has to be in the discussion as one of the best albums of the 1990s. The label's comparison of a mix between Magma, King Crimson, Weidorje, Area, and Univers Zero are just flat out spot on. Happy Family took what Belgium's Present were doing in the 1980s, and accelerated it by 100 mph. Strap your seat belt on - hit play - and roar through 50 minutes of incredible intensity and complexity. Get rid of your treadmill, you'll burn 1000 calories just listening to this album. Need.... Gatorade.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Cuneiform (USA)

1995; 11/18/14 (new entry)

The Word of Life - Dust. 1995 Sweden

The Word of Life return with their sophomore, and ultimately last effort, Dust which is somewhat different from the predecessor. There's more variety within the compositions, and is overall more song based and less jam oriented. It appears the album tries to please on a number of fronts. 'When I Was in Space' opens (on the CD version that is) auspiciously with its oscillator-emulated synthesizer runs and heavy percussion cadence. As with Further Ahead, there's an amalgamation of psychedelic styles ranging from roaring space rock to folk. And flute meets fuzz continues to be a predominant instrumental theme. The lyrical songs on this album have a sort of retro lounge naïve melody line motif which I find oddly appealing (like on 'Flying', 'Up Here', and 'Love You'). No doubt there are plenty of sizzling guitar jams to bang your head to, just a few less than the admittedly more ambitious debut.

Ownership: CD: 1996 Subliminal Sounds. As with the debut, the CD has a different track order than the original LP (and in this case features 3 bonus tracks).

1996; 6/18/06 (Gnosis); 5/23/14 (new entry)

Mosaic - Miniatures. 1995 Italy

Progressive rock for the short-attention-span listener. Mosaic is the brainchild of former Arti + Mestieri keyboardist Beppe Crovella, who was all over the place in the 1990s. And just like the composer himself, this unusual album from his project Mosaic is "all over the place". To Crovella's credit, these aren't 40 sketches of music similar to a TV/Film library album. They are fully composed pieces - a beginning, middle, and end - with the majority of the tracks between 1 and 2 minutes each. Problem is, obviously enough, there's little continuity between the tracks themselves and the album lacks cohesiveness. That is the purpose of the album, but one has to question whether the premise is the best of ideas? Hard to knock it really, given the artist's intention, and I'll grade it a relatively high rating considering everything. But the concept will not allow personal growth with the album, and it cannot possibly go higher. File under: Interesting.

Mellotron seems to be the dominant instrument. Now whether it's authentic or sampled, is entirely another question. I'm guessing the latter, but as of this writing, Planet Mellotron hasn't weighed in on it.

CD: 1995 Vinyl Magic

1995; 6/13/13 (new entry)

Simon Says - Ceinwen. 1995 Sweden

There have been bands trying to copy the classic Genesis sound ever since... well... ever since Genesis stopped putting out progressive rock music themselves. In the late 1970's and early 80's, bands from Germany (Ivory, Neuschwanstein, M.L. Bongers Project, Sirius), The Netherlands (Saga), and Austria (Kyrie Eleison) gave it their best shot (and all did an admirable job I might add). Entering into the early 80's there was even a celebrated movement called the New Wave of British Progressive Rock (now saddled with the derogatory "neo prog" tag), where classic Genesis was clearly the blueprint - most notably found in the sound of well known and respected bands like Marillion and IQ. By the late 80's this particular genre was starting to get a bit long in the tooth - almost cartoon-ish even (witness the Swiss band Deyss on their roll-on-the-floor it's-so-bad-it's-bloody-awful 'At-King' album).

So what am I doing talking about a band who did basically the same thing - as late as 1995? Because it's damn good, that's why. Simon Says are definitely post-Anglagard Genesis copycat, and for that they deserve some credit at the very least. Gone are the cheap synthesizers, brass patches, gated drums, pig squeal guitar leads and thin production. And in its place are acoustic guitars, flute, Hammond organ, fat woody bass, loud acid guitar, Mini Moog solos and best of all, the glorious MELLOTRON blaring its sampled string sounds - 8 seconds at a time just as God had intended. It's in the Bible somewhere. Dammit.

Even if you would want to take a pass at this point, then at the very least go to the final track, with the brain blowing 16 minute 'Kadazan' which basically sounds exactly like Anglagard doing their best Nursery Cryme imitation. Even the most cynical amongst you out there ought to at least give THAT a try before making final judgment.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Bishop Garden. Purchased new upon release.

1995; 5/16/11 (new entry)

Soma - Dreamtime. 1995 England

For those of you who remember when Ozric Tentacles broke out big-time in the late 1980's, then you'll probably also recall a host of other bands coming from the UK Festival scene, as well as other astral travelers from the world over. Soma's debut Epsilon was preceded by quite a bit of hype - something akin to "if you love Ozric, then you'll be blown away by Soma". Always a dangerous thing to do, and sure enough Soma's album didn't live up to such a lofty reputation. That's probably no fault of the band, but finger pointing goes to those that were trying to market it to a new, hungry, but discerning audience. However, not living up to an exceedingly high bar is not the same thing as saying the album wasn't any good. Quite to the contrary.

Fast forward to 1995, and Soma's long delayed second album finally gets released (originally recorded in 1992). By the mid 1990s, as mentioned in the Mr. Quimby review, a certain blasé attitude had penetrated the targeted audience. Whether through overexposure, redundancy, or saturation - who knows - but many of us were exhausted of the style. And to top it off, Soma's album was already 3 years in the can, and was now finally being issued by an obscure Italian label with little distribution. I gave it the short shrift back then, tossed it quickly and said "same ol' same ol'" It wasn't fair, but I was still digesting hundreds of new albums in the mid 90s, and only the best of the best were standing out. I recently received a second chance to buy the CD through a used set sale, and I jumped on it.

A revisit has been kind to Dreamtime. In reality, you can hear the band had actually matured, while expanding their sound to incorporate more sophisticated structures. As such, Soma's final album isn't so much a space rock rave-up, but rather a progressive rock album via the Hawkwind lens. Complex meter shifts, and vocal fronted rock music aren't necessarily the common tools of the jamming space rock trade, but are more than welcome to this listener anyway. Too bad Soma didn't really get their chance to shine in the spotlight. I bet a reunion, similar to what Omnia Opera just pulled off, would prove to be quite a revelation.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Beard of Stars

5/9/11 (new entry)