IN KEEPING SECRETS OF SILENT EARTH - 3

In the liner notes Josh Eppard the drummer and brother of Joey (the singer / songwriter for the band 3) says "And how could I forget Mr. Aidella (9th grade student advisor) who told me that I would never amount to anything playing music and that I should be a male nurse or something. F**k you !" I agree with the others who have reviewed this record that say this sounds like progressive punk music. Not as "noisy" or complex as THE MARS VOLTA but it is more melodic and easier to digest.

It opens with a PINK FLOYD-like moment as we can hear the phone ring and someone walking towards it to pick it up. It then gets orchestral sounding with piano before it stops and we hear what sounds like a nucleur explosion. The title track is up next and it is by far the best track other than the hidden song. The guitar style is in the Post-Rock vein as the other guitarist grinds away over top. We then get an explosion of sound. Claudio sings a memorable line "Man your battle stations" as a nice heavy soundscape is heard throughout. I really like Claudio's vocal melodies, they are so well done. Great tune ! "Cuts Marked In The March Of Men" features some good heavy rhythms, great drumming and vocal melodies.

"Three Evils(Embodied In Love And Shadow)" is an uptempo, catchy tune with more fantastic vocal melodies. There are some brief death-like vocals. "The Crowing" is a good track that opens with the sound of rain and a spooky atmosphere. Riffs come in followed by vocals and a grinding guitar melody. More atmosphere 3 1/2 minutes in with some steller drumming after 5 minutes. "Blood Red Summer" is a punk influenced tune, maybe a little immature sounding in my opinion. The vocal melodies are a nice 3 minutes in. "The Camper Velourium" suite is divided into 3 sections of over 15 minutes of music. The third part is my favourite, especially the more uptempo sections of it. "A Favour House Atlantic" has lots of energy while "The Light & The Glass" starts off quietly with acoustic guitar and fragile vocals. The sound gets fuller 2 minutes in until we have riffs a minute later. A calm section doesn't last long before the power returns.The last vocal line is where the name of their next album would come from.

The hidden track is called "2113" in reference to Claudio always hearing how he sounds a little like Geddy Lee from RUSH. And it is also the longest song on the album, and the best in my opinion. It is also instrumentally a lot like a RUSH song although it's no "2112". Still it has crisp drumming with time changes and a real nod to Lifeson 5 1/2 minutes in with the guitar melody. Nice. 3.5 stars.