LVL. 1

This gets squarely placed into the category of "so ugly" and "so out there" that a great many "progressive rock" fans are just not going to be game for it. As an appreciator of Mathcore, of this brand of hyper-aggressive Prog Metal (in a world post-DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN) and, more recently, a fan of the most necessary ugliness of the ugliest of Death Metal vocalists and other "growl artists" (see Chuck SCHULDINER of DEATH, also... lol), I'm personally so game for this.

I would say, most likely coming from a generally "post-hardcore" place, we are presented with a very tongue-in-cheek approach to vocals. Not to mention some absolutely ridiculous lyrics: "that lightbulb burned out when I left that b*tch for dead"; "your face is looking thin, maybe that's your HIV, but baby, you never looked so fresh to me"; "if apathy has never been so en vogue, then I am cocaine in 1986, and I'm the silicone in your fake t*ts"; and so on... To reiterate, the vocal delivery is also absurd at many times throughout. I think it's fun, but I'm sure for your average fan of, again to put it in quotes, "Progressive Rock", I'll assume it's more niche and more novelty than it is worthwhile. And thusly, to be as honest as possible, I wanted to make sure I was giving this particular album a proper rating, with the scope and focus of the site in mind.

The musicianship of the band is quite good and I really look forward to digging into more. If you are a fan of Technical Death Metal, the guitarwork alone should do it for you. If you can look past the obvious absurdities already mentioned above, and I'm sure if that descriptor of "fan" fits the bill for you, I would think it will.

Last Chance to Reason's second vocalist, Bob Delaney, was only in the band for about a year from what I can tell; enough time to record this album and tour for it and then get out of dodge. Before I had gotten into them, the thing that was the selling point was his replacement, Michael Lessard, most notably now known (also) as the current lead vocalist of modern Progressive Metal torchbearers THE CONTORTIONIST. And there are certainly some ethereal elements that I heard here that could be compared to those used by the latter. Worth checking out for fans of DILLINGER, BEHOLD... THE ARCTOPUS, early BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, and... others? I guess I'm not really so well versed with this side of Prog Metal.

True Rate: 2.75/5.00