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Pseudo/Sentai - Nature's Imagination (Chapter 2) CD (album) cover

NATURE'S IMAGINATION (CHAPTER 2)

Pseudo/Sentai

 

Crossover Prog

3.15 | 14 ratings

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HolyMoly
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin
3 stars This EP-length release, ostensibly the latest chapter in an ongoing saga, has an abundance of musical ideas that belies its temporal brevity (it's 15 minutes total). I had to listen quite a few times before I could pin it down -- there's quite a bit going on at once, while at the same time, it's not a "difficult" or "inpenetrable" album either. It just covers a lot of bases in a short amount of time, while sticking to the general ground rules of Western music. In fact, at times it seems eager to employ as many these rules as it can!

"Landmark of Vascular Catastrophe" is an inviting opener with high harmony vocals throughout, string synth patches, and a heavenly air to it (somewhat macabre, given the title). There's a neat section in the middle with an odd but nicely flowing chord progression in an odd meter. "Photoperiodism" might be my favorite of the five tracks, employing acoustic guitar sounds in a folk rock vein, and a nice circular melody that eventually gets some nice counter melodies piled on top. "Oil Hurricane" is probably the "weirdest" track, with twisting synth lines creating confusion only to rein it in to show those synth lines belonged together after all. The brief "Foliage Flower" feels like the long intro to a dramatic song that never really comes, an epic piano ballad boiled down to its essence. Finally, "Keeper of the Stars" ends on a brooding note, a dark groove with subtle changes in coloring throughout, occasional playful licks coming in and out, and gaining in intensity before slowly spiraling away in confusion. An odd track, that.

While I still can't quite grasp the overall "agenda" of this band, and they play a style of music that I have not really heard before, I can't deny it's compositionally sound (well constructed if complex chord progressions) and has no shortage of melodies. It's a bit too short to really make a huge impression on me, but what's here is likely to please any fan of modern ambitious music that isn't easily classified and doesn't stay in one place too long.

HolyMoly | 3/5 |

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