NUCLEUS

Nucleus is decent when it rocks, but boring and irritating when it doesn't. I suppose that even the most hardened progger has a limit, and for me it's this. The lead singer is truly awful...he can keep a decent pitch (though he often deliberately chooses not to), but the apathetic tone and vibrato is really grating to my ears. This is violent, depressing and grating music: I'm rarely in a mood for music with those qualities, and I also wouldn't want to put myself there by cranking up Nucleus. Having said all that, there are plenty of redeeming qualities about this album as well, given a certain audience.

Nucleus, Rubankh. These are the two "rockers", and both hit you with full distorted bass, cello groans, and cannon-like drums for their duration. Noisy would be the best way to describe them, but they don't really sound original to me, given the Red period Crimson upon which they are heavily influenced.

Harvest, This Far from the Sky, Book of Hours. These tunes alternate between heavy, distorted parts and angsty, vocal/mellotron sections. I'm not terribly fond of any of them, though I as always with Anekdoten I enjoy the distorted bass.

Here, In Freedom. Thankfully, Anekdoten do deviate a bit from their noisy formula a bit, and these two pieces redeem the whole album for me. Here features absolutely gorgeous textured strings, and the vocals are more restrained and on a lower register, adding up to a uniquely melancholy and captivating song. In Freedom again utilizes the strings beautifully, except puts them under a bouncy, jazzy rhythm, and ends with a very effective die-down to close the album. The two album highlights for me.

To be honest, many parts of this album are often unbearable for me to listen. I like heavy music, especially when frequently drenched with mellotron, but the angsty and uneven vocal sections ruin more than a few of these songs for me (and I'm usually fairly forgiving with vocal distractions). I do have to respect the diversity and creativity though, and I also respect the band for their bold experimentation. Not highly recommended, unless you are familiar with some of their other work (Vemod would be a great start).