INTROSPECTION / RETROSPECTION

Let's just start by saying that Mr. Zero's music deserves much more exposure than it appears to be getting so far. Incredibly, as of now it only has 4 ratings, but they are all 5 star. You would think this would garner a little more interest! So, if you take a listen, what can you expect? This album is full of dynamic sounds and bursts of brilliance. It's all prog based, but there is something for everyone here, some near metal riffs but never too extreme, some strong rock moments, some accessible pop tunes, well done ballads, lots of art rock, and the occasional ambient texture. There is also some coloring outside the boundaries of prog such as flashes of rumba, Spanish traditional, blues, and even a touch of rockabilly, but they last just long enough to make their presence known and then to transition back into more typical prog structures.

Clocking in at about 94 minutes there is a lot to absorb here. While some of the tracks seem fairly simple in structure, there is a lot within them to unpack, and you really need to listen them a few times to catch everything that is going on. While the album is one release, it is at least conceptually a double album, Part 1 being the Introspection portion and part 2 the Retrospection portion. Each half weighs in a little over 45 minutes and is organized with four shorter songs of five to eight minutes, and closes with an epic fifth song of over twenty minutes.

In my opinion, the overall consistency of the entire work is very good, but I have to give a slight nod to the first half as being the stronger portion. The epics in both halves are creative, engaging, and of equally good quality. However, the shorter songs of the first portion seem to have a bit more diversity and prog elements in them than the second half, but the difference is probably marginal and subjective to my personal taste.

I am not sure if the album is self produced or not, but it seems to be a very well mixed album as all the instruments sound distinct and clear, and it's easy to focus in on any given instrument and isolate it. This is a great listen with headphones to enjoy the stereo experience. Also related to production of the album, I love the cover art. I can't quite make out if it is simply abstract or it is actually a picture of something, or in fact many things. Not sure if it's just my pareidolia kicking in, but I think there is a bird face in the upper left corner, or is it a fish, or is it just my overactive imagination? In any event, the colors are attractive and the art intriguing, a great stepping stone into the music.

As much as I like this album now, curiously enough, in its entirety it didn't immediately captivate me. Perhaps the 94 minutes was just too much to absorb. That being said, there were sections that ear wormed their way in, and I found I kept wanting to come back and play it again. Each time, I would hear something new that I had previously missed until it all fell together. There are no weak tracks and I can now easily sit through the entire set and it seems to go by incredibly quickly. This will easily be in my top 10, perhaps 5, albums of the year.

Mr. Zero is a one man band handling all of the instruments and vocals, which seems rather amazing given all of the variety in this album, and yet there is an obvious cohesiveness to it all. It really sounds like the ideas of several musicians are here putting this together, but apparently that's not the case. There are some influences of other artists and bands in this work of which I may point out a few, but Mr. Zero's reworkings of those influences are fresh and enjoyable. His voice works well with his songs, and his abilities with the various instruments, especially the big four, drums, guitars, bass, and synths are quite impressive. I especially like the variety in his guitar work throughout as there is great deal of variation in his playing, and for the most part it seems fresh an underivative of the highly imitated greats, although there are moments that pay tribute to his influences, but for the most part he has his own sound and style.

So, some thoughts on the songs.

Alright! It's Repeating (5:35) The opening track breaks out with a lone distinctive 70's style hard rock riff. When drums join in the riff doubles in volume and intensifies even more, and then drops into a slower pace for lyrics. Keys are introduced and keeps trading back and forth with the intense and less intense guitar work. Nice instrumental build featuring keys from about 3:22-5:02, somewhat Kansas like. The variety of guitar work in this track is a great start and sign of things to come. One of the most intense tracks in the whole album. A great start to grab our attention! It ends with a spiraling synth effect that will be resurrected at the beginning of the fourth track to book end tracks two and three. (9.5/10) (Sidebar here, the opening song title is rather amusing as it seems designed for when you have played the whole album, and it auto plays again, and you think to yourself, alright! It's repeating!)

Fragile (5:10) A big shift in style and tempo here. A beautiful mid tempo song that just floats hypnotically across your speakers. Reminds me of softer works of Antony Kalugin's Sunchild project both musically and vocally. There are lyrics pretty much throughout, but there is a nice albeit short guitar solo at 2:30-2:50. One of those songs that immediately captivates and makes you happy to put on repeat for a while. (10/10)

Silence at Sundown (5:03) The first ballad and a good one at that. This compliments the previous track nicely opening with light acoustic guitar. Softly played electric instruments float in and out throughout. Vocals and lyrics are engaging. Again, while unique in its own right, the soundscape and artistic atmosphere of this is again in the wheelhouse of Sunchild, which is a high compliment in my book. (10/10)

Your Own Time (7:45) Here, another intense track. This one starts with a brief spiraling synth effect that seems to bookend the two previous softer songs with the end of the first track. This comes out big and bold with a driving washboard scratchy guitar propulsion immediately competing with a pipe organ sounding synth run, both paced by big drums. At 2:30 slows down for some instrumental guitar pyrotechnics which after a minute drop to near silence and spring back up with greater intensity that play out at about 4:55. The closing lyrics section arises and is sung over increasingly intense musical build up to a powerful finish. (9.5/10)

Sailing the Vastness (22:37) Otherwise known as shapeshifter one. The first big epic. As we will see this one is multi faceted with a number of different faces. Section one (0:00-6:30) opens with an ambient natural texture followed by acoustic guitar and builds up into an up tempo pace with full instrumentation. The acoustic guitar comes back and has a bit of Spanish traditional flavor and then melts into the opening lyrics. Has some very pleasant electric guitar soloing around the 5:00 mark. Section two (6:30-8:08) kicks up the pace and speed with driving drums and guitar, a new chord structure having just the slightest hints of eastern flavor in it. This suddenly steps down rapidly to section three (8:08-12:30) which starts with a tapping of the drum sticks into a lone piano that takes on a rumba type structure. For some reason this reminded me how JM Jarre did this type of thing with his Oxygene and Equinox albums rather successfully. However, in this case it transitions dramatically with guitars and drums quickly building over the top of it in an upbeat driving rock style, with lyrics over the top. Suddenly drops back into the softer rumba stylings just to build up a second time with some experimental guitar work finishing it out. After this powerful playing, section four (12:30-13:55) drops into a short synth and piano based instrumental ambient respite that quickly moves into section five (13:55-18:44) that opens with a very Supertramp piano vibe that quickly build onward and upward with guitar backing and then a very different piano sound with Mr Zero throwing in a "whoooo" to signal something fun and different is on its way. Something with a bit of funk to it, more popish and accessible with some nice keys under the guitar work, which again features some very nice soloing from 17:21-18:35. This section fades out reprising the opening guitar work as at the beginning of section one bringing things full circle. The final section, six (18:44-22:37) play out with acoustic guitar picking with the opening guitar work woven into it in the background and then fades into big final build up of synths and guitar work to bring the work and final vocal section to its conclusion. Some spoken word to wrap things up, a bit Dark Side of the Moon in nature. Definitely, a lot going on here. Initially, it may not feel particularly cohesive, but given a few listens it plays out well. (18.5/20 Giving double weight to this track because of its length)

A Whole New Beginning (8:49) This is the beginning of part two of the album, hence perhaps the title of the song. Starts with bright optimistic synth notes and positive sounding lyrics, another upbeat track with even more and different guitar works amidst the synths weaving in and out in small patches. At about 4:40 song dies out and metamorphosizes into a new phase of Spanish guitar and synth horns starts up which at about 6:10 morphs into a very beatles sounding chorus, and at 7:20 escalates back into prog structure and gradually fades out. An interesting and dynamic art rock track! (9/10)

Retrospection (5:00) Mid tempo song starting with piano & synth that sounds like horns, lyrically driven, some nice thumping bass around 1:55, nice instrumental interlude starting about 3:10, pace drops off for a nice bluesy guitar texture, reprising synth notes around 4:00 until the end. Fairly simplistic in overall structure, but enjoyable. (8/10)

Summer of Saudade (4:57) Immediately accessible, prog pop rock, builds up for about a minute and then moves into a drum driven song with ear worm type hooks and chorus. Great guitar works at 2:00 with big drawn out chords, then at 2:50 rolls into a more rockabilly style dissolving into a new lyrics section. Lyrics drop into a low volume spoken word singing and then powers back up with big guitar finish to the end. (8/10)

Imaginary World (4:48) This is by far the most stripped down song on the album, the second ballad opening with acoustic guitar and a gentle under current of synthesizer that has an almost slide guitar sound to it. No drums or bass in this at all. Not sure why, but I get a bit of the Stone's Wild Horses vibe out of it, especially at the beginning, but it gradually dissipates. Sound is consistent from beginning to end without the tempo and instrumental variety and style changes of the previous tracks, but it is still a strong track. (9/10)

Beyond the World of Dreams (24:28) The second big epic, otherwise known as shapeshifter two. Again, it travels musically all over, although perhaps not quite as diversely as the first one. As the last song of the album, it appropriately begins with the first section (0:00-3:22) being a semi bombastic instrumental overture with yet more clever guitar soloing. This leads into a quiet ballad section (3:22-5:55) with the opening lyrics, featuring some church bell type synth laced in it. The third section (5:55-10:40) steps up the tempo, and goes into what I can only describe as a Heart's Barracuda merger with a BOC more cowbell amalgamation. You will either get it or you won't! Ends with lyrics and music using an interesting echo effect. Good fun and entertaining. Section four (10:40-16:50) starts with hauntingly lovely lone piano for about a minute, and then deep bass guitar notes with big slow drumming, lyrics and singing, all on the eerie side, gradually building up. Lyrics then become more spoken word and lighter in nature, breaking into cleaner happier vibe with flute like synth, that eventually becomes wobbly and fades away. Section five (16:50-20:55) moves forward with upbeat acoustic guitar work, and more accessible vocal passage. You can sense things are starting to work towards the conclusion of the song as the guitar soloing becomes more powerful, and then totally drops off for quiet vocal. The final section six (20:55-24:28) bounces back with much faster guitar, bordering on light shredding, and big drum energy, and finally closes out with soft singular piano. Overall, another fascinating and enjoyable musical journey. This one seems a bit less experimental than the first epic, but because of that, probably a bit more cohesive as a single epic track. (18.5/20 Again, giving double weight to this track because of its length)

In conclusion, take some time and give this a spin, the variety within is pretty incredible. It should have something for everyone, and you may just end up liking the whole thing!

A tip of the hat to Patrishiou for first review on this album and bringing it to our attention. Hopefully this review will garner a little more interest. I have to agree with the ratings to date, that are as I previously mentioned incredibly few, and give this 5 well deserved stars.