NIGHT TO DAY

Review # 55. Time Collapse is a rather new band from Athens, Greece, which I discovered recently through Prog Archives. Being from Greece as well, I'm always trying to pay attention and support the bands that come from my country, assuming they worth it of course. I have to admit that during the last 10 years, many bands appeared in Greece that are very interesting to say the least. One of those bands is Time Collapse without a doubt. Almost a month ago (if I'm not mistaken), they released their debut album Night and Day, which includes 7 songs and has a total running time of almost 40 minutes. In my mind, the album is divided into two major parts. If it was a vinyl edition, for example, A-side would be including the first 4 songs and the B-side the almost 18-minute-long suite Messiah Complex, which is divided into 3 parts. But since there is no vinyl edition available (as far as I know), you can buy the album either in a CD, or in a digital form from the band's account in Bandcamp. Now, let's take a closer look at the album: The opening song that works also as the album's intro is the very good and atmospheric Time Bound, which after 2 minutes is being transformed into Time Collapse. These two songs are forming a short 7-minute-long medley, which gives to the listener a pretty good idea of what this band is about. The beautiful psychedelic soundscapes, mixed with loud guitar riffs, accompanied by the excellent collaboration between the bass and the drums, are creating a great overall outcome, which brings to my mind something between Tool and Porcupine Tree. As for the keyboards, they are giving a little "extra" to their sound, without being too much. The band seems influenced a lot from the two bands I just mentioned, but they manage to blend their influences into their sound in such a way that is not a problem at all. Imagine the loud riffs and sudden changes of Tool, combined with the long atmospheric passages of the early Porcupine Tree, and you will get an idea. Also, one of the major problems of the Greek bands, is the English accent on many occassions. Well, no problem here at all. Their singer's voice that is matching the band's sound and his English accent is very good. (He is half English, half Greek). Now, having all these things in mind, it's up to you to decide if you are interested or not, but my recommendation would be to give these guys a chance. Maybe they are not bringing something new or groundbreaking in the modern music scene, but they created a very good and powerful album, that could be appreciated by people with "open ears" and minds. It's not Progressive Rock, it's not Progressive Metal, it is something in between.

4 stars for their first and very interesting album, hoping that they will keep up in the same way in the future!