THE GREAT MISDIRECT

1. Mirrors (3:38) ' This album opens with some nice guitar riffs. The vocal starts as a melodic accompaniment. The music picks up pace with faster paced drums and nice bass lines. The vocal continues its melodic theme folding into the next track

2. Obfuscation (9:15) ' this track immediately transitions from the simplistic melody of the previous track Mirrors to this decidedly heavier metal piece. It begins with a nasty raw growling vocal that is offset with a symphonic sounding integrated guitar keyboard mix that standing along would excite almost any progressive rock fan. Getting used to the raw sounding vocal during the early part of this track can be a chore. However if you hang in there, you will find some excellent electric guitar riffs and some exciting drumming/base line backdrop. Then the song progresses into some more contemporary movements reminiscent of Dream Theater.

3. Disease, Injury, Madness (11:03) ' I must admit that I am not drawn to dark lyrical themes such as put forth by the name of this particular track. This song starts very heavy music with not much too much else to mention. Then it moves to a nice melodic piece with off-beat jazz style drumming and interesting conversational vocal. It continues to decay into a beautiful acoustic guitar piece and then suddenly explodes into a very heavy raw (once again nasty growling vocal). It continues and then migrates slowly into what I can only describe as a classic rock jam. Then we have a slower soft rock moment with brushing drumming, guitar effects and awesome bass line. The guitars break back with some well-developed lead guitar riffs accompanied buy organ (sounds like a Hammond). The song concludes with a very heavy raw growling gent.

4. Fossil Genera - A Feed from Cloud Mountain (12:11) ' The introduction is interesting as it sound like a movie track from some old film. It then continues with a something that continues to sound like something from an earlier error (30s or 40s) and then a layer of heavier distorted guitar comes in as an overlay. Sit back and enjoy the ride is the growing chorus that screams from the background. Then we get another Dream Then moment with the guitar and keyboard fully integrated into a singular complex sound following the powerful drumming augmented by bass line perfectly. There are some really nice moments buried (no pun intended) within what on the surface may seem to be chaos. The music gets more complex finally arriving at its acoustic classic guitar roots. We conclude with strumming acoustic guitar, complex clean guitar lead riffs and beautiful clean vocals.

5. Desert of Song (5:33) ' The song starts with some of the same excellent acoustics guitar work that concluded the previous track along with a wind effect. Then we have a 'Guns and Roses' style vocal introduction along with western style guitar, and perhaps some blues slide guitar. Then we break into the part of the album that would have the most popular appeal. It has a nice rolling but powerful ballet as they sing 'the silence is broken' chorus.

6. Swim to the Moon (17:54) ' Now we have the 'lion king' moment. No actually it is very good and breaks into a complex math rock piece reminiscent of 80's style King Crimson. Then rapidly it speeds up into a very technically complex movement of music. It is Chaotic at moments and very organized at others. The musicianship is excellent, but much of the central part of the track is lacking emotion. The center part of this track is almost overly technical which takes more time off the clock than needed. Then it starts to get really interesting with syncopated instrumentation, off- beat drumming and intense leads. There are complex and unexpected starts and stops, organ solos, ultra-fast guitar solos, and all round major kick'As rock and roll breakouts. Then back to the Celtic melody that started the song. The drumming is bombastic and flowing. The growing vocal joins back in for a short period and is broken up by a softer melodic movement of acoustic guitar and then back to the chorus followed by complex 80s style King Crimson guitar work.

While I am typically not a big fan of growing vocal, I do make a periodic exception for exceptionally talented music and musicians most notably Opeth and Ocean Architecture. These guys fall into this category for me, so 4 out of 5.

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