REFLECTIONS OF A FLOATING WORLD

Hailing from Boston, these heavy proggers toe an almost-grungy LED ZEPPELIN line as they jam along--never less than eight minutes. The band has great ideas, great aspirations, and a great sound, however, I see room for growth: more sophistication, more diversity in singing styles (or voices), and maybe even some improvement in recording engineering (bringing things more forward in the mix.

1. "Sanctuary" (11:14) opens with a delightful chunky heaviness that is lost a little during guitar soloing--a midsection that sounds a LOT like a cross between 1970s LED ZEPPELIN and THIN LIZZY. The vocals could be a little stronger, more prominent. (8.5/10)

2. "The Falling Veil" (11:13) opens with some gentle "get to know me" front-porch guitar picking before the song leaps into full gear in a SEVEN IMPALE and LED ZEPPELIN way. The spacious, "far away" effect on the vocal is more appropriate for this heavy rocker. I LOVE the soft, down section in the eighth minute and the Mellotron-drenched section that follows. This song just keeps better the longer it plays! Reminds me a lot of the power and talent of GHOST MEDICINE's Jared Leach. (9/10)

3. "Staving Off Truth "(10:18) beautiful opening before bursting into a djenty tour de force at 1:15. By the time the vocals join in, the song has settled into a kind of ALICE IN CHAINS sound and feel. Awesome! Another awesome down tempo section begins at the end of the fifth minute and turns into a cool YES/ALLMAN BROTHERS section thanks to the pedal steel guitar. Around 6:30 things revert back to the AinC style/sound only with a less insistent vocal, but then at 7:03 things shift into a brief two-guitar picking distant drum section before amping back up into the heavier stuff (again reminding me of a heavier THIN LIZZY). Nice drumming on display on this one! (9/10)

4. "Blind" (13:24) opens with the sound so mucked up that I thought something was wrong with my headphones' connection the first time I heard it. But after about half a minute the "joke" is played out and the rockin' groove comes forth in full force and full focus. Unexpectedly, soon after all instruments save for an "distant" electric piano and organ/synth drop out while a distant voice sings in a newsy voice. Once he finishes stating his plaintive case, the grunge returns--and eventually the singer sings--in the same voice and mix using the same melody as before--over the heavy stuff. At 4:30 there is shift into a section based on an arpeggiated riff from the electric piano. The drums shift and the rest of the band gradually join in pumping out another great multi-guitar weave of heavy prog. Nice, interesting song full of unexpected shifts and turns. The final two minutes is the real highlight with a crashing meeting of passion coming from all the instrumentalists at the same time, yielding an awesome crescendo. (8.5/10)

5. "Sonntag" (8:40) I get the Krautrock references to this song but the instrumental contributions here are a little too sparse, unchanging, and the groove not as hypnotizing as many great German songs of the 1970s. Plus, there are a couple of times that the drummer seems to loose his concentration, connection, or enthusiasm for the kind of Jaki Liebezeit beat the song really requires. (8/10)

6. "Thousand Hands" (9:37) One of my favorite prog epics of the year--thanks in no small part to some great guitar weaves, great drumming, awesome Mellotron use, catchy chord progressions and melodies, and the most fitting vocals on the album! Another song in which the second half surpasses the (awesome) first half. (9.5/10)

4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music and certainly a band with tremendous potential. Though I liked their previous release, Lore, better, I am not displeased with this slight shift in direction--and I can't wait to see what they do next!