MIND OVER BODY

Mind Over Body is one of the best albums of 2006. Slot this one next to Mastodon's Blood Mountain and Zero Hour's Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond as the progressive metal highlights of 2006. This album sees the band push the boundaries of prog metal, there is so much going on here. I've never heard anything like. The complexity of it all is mind blowing, but importantly this complexity does not overwhelm the music as these guys are brilliant song writers.

The album has some interesting and unique experimentation with electronic music and synths, something which was on there debut as well but they have really upped its use here. This all adds to the atmosphere created on this album.

The music on this album is a mix of the musical virtuosity of Dream Theater and Symphony X, the melody and vocals on Pain of Salvation, with the sense of insanity of Psychotic Waltz and Watchtower.

The ballads on this album, 'Thousand Miles From You' and 'A gift To You', are really beautiful with some stunning piano work and classical instrumentation. And they provide a nice breather from the craziness of the rest of the album. 'Just Water, You Navigate' is another slowish song, which slowly builds and bursts into melodic glory at the 4 minute mark.

But it is the other six tracks on the album, which all exceed the 9 minute mark that are really impressive and dare I say groundbreaking. These songs are stunning, and really there is no way I will be able to go through each one a give a description. These songs 'Crossing Enemy's Line', 'Upload Spirit', 'Chair Designer', 'Hellbitat', 'Follow Your Instinct' and 'Hide and Seek', I know it's a cliché but they really do need to be heard to be believed. There complex arrangements and the frequency of the odd time signatures make for quite an adventurous listening experience. The melodies are brilliant and there are some absolutely brilliant riffs that will stick on your head for years to come.

Mindflow created a brilliant debut with Just the Two of Us.Me and Them, but they have exceeded their debut in every aspect with Mind Over Body. These guys are destined for big things, the future of prog metal is here