THE CAPITAL IN RUINS

For their fourth full-length release the New Mexico-based duo decided to take their sound to another level, the one related to long epic compositions.Additionally a concept around an almost mad scientist named Rip was developed by Chris Boat and Aaron Frale.Rip invented a machine able to change organic material, theoretically solving the problem of immortality.Rip was the first to be injected with a strong dosage and several people over the years were injected with smaller dosages.The result was the whole humanity to be sampled by his machine, but all of them were finally dead except Rip, who tried the strongest of all dosages.For the first time Frale does not appear as a vocalist and Senda Shallow/Denzel Thompson help the duo on vocals along with Casey Mraz on lead guitars.The album ''The capital in ruins'' was released in May 2011.

A pair of 10-min. epics and another pair of over 20-min. ones along with a shorter track complete for over 70 minutes of Psychedelic/Progressive Rock music, full of obscure atmospheres, stretched guitar textures and lyrical passages.The sound of Spiral is still based in an excessive deegree on mono- or dual electric guitars with atmospheric moves, extended solos and long, scratching riffs and the main problem remains the generally one-dimensional sound.Keyboards are used only sporadically and the best moments come from Boat's very good lyrical performance and the fair amount of haunting moods created by the sharp electric guitars.However the overall feeling is that most tracks are overstretched without any particular reason and a length close to their previous albums would have been definitely more convincing.Some acidic soundscapes with minimalistic effects apparently help the flow of the concept's story like on the long self-titled composition, which is basically built around these soundscapes, some basic riffs and Boat's expressive voice.The atmosphere relies on psychedelic lines strengthened by some heavier guitar-based tempos, although there are no high gears in a rather downtempo work.The last, melancholic track ''Without others'' is definitely the best of all.Very emotional lyrics, strong early-70's PINK FLOYD influences, light psychedelic grooves, total absence of fillers and a grandiose ending section with orchestral keyboards and powerful guitars show again what was already known: The potential for Spiral is still around.

''The capital in ruins'' suffers from the basic problems regarding Spiral's style: over the top guitar-based soundscapes with few variations beyond this familiar path.Following the story line will help the listener appreciate the release more and thus the album seems like a decent recommendation for fans of modern, atmospheric Rock...2.5 stars.