1980

1980 are four Frenchmen who brought one of the best meals to the progmetal table in 2007. Crushingly heavy and unimpeachably progressive, the quartet seem to have been keeping a close eye on the exploding genre, digested the best it had to offer and then made a record that somehow blew almost everyone else out of the water. A nod to Meshuggah, the obsessive tenacity of Dysrhythmia and NeBeLNeST, inventive spirit of Canvas Solaris, postrock colors of Tortoise and brown acid math-zone of Sleeping People make for a sizable universe to play in, and 1980 do it with as much conviction as anyone. The power riff is the backbone of most of the material, played with passion by the guitar, bass and drums. But it's the tingling chime of keys that provides a startling contrast to the swaths of metal, juxtaposing sounds of a little girl's toybox, a grimly serious jazz band, infatuated math geeks, one slightly deranged ice cream man and a world-class instrumental rock group. 'Sagaie' will rip your face off. 'O Me Oh' skates on a frozen Lake Fripp but finds more than enough time to bleed heat. The loopy polytechnics of 'Amicaliment' ends up spewing some serious chunkage, and the title is another delightful work in contrast, balance and equilibrium. Recommended.