HERMETIC SCIENCE

Hermetic science is a US-based project called by prog rock author Ed Macan in 1995.Besides being an author, Ed is a keyboardist and also a specialist on mallet percussions and its techniques.So, Hermetic Science was a good opportunity for him both to present widely instruments like the marimba and the vibraphone and to explore the boundaries of progressive rock music.The introduction was made with ''Ed Macan's hermetic science'' in 1997, recorded at the Ozone Studio in Eureka, California and released on his own Magnetic Oblivion label.Macan performs on vibraphone, marimba and piano, bass duties are provided by Donald Sweeney and Michael Morris plays drums and various percussions.

Three out of the eight tracks are covers on Curved Air's ''Cheetah'', E.L.P.'s ''Infinite space'' and British composer's Gustav Holst ''Mars, the bringer of war" from his work ''The planets''.Musically ''Hermetic science'' is close to something like an experimental Prog Rock album, where all themes supposedly performed on keyboards are subsituted by Macan's unique performances on vibraphone.As a result the album sounds pretty sterile, lacking the instrumental depth of analog or digital keyboards, played with acoustic textures and a solid rhythm section in the background.Although the Classical, jazzy and proggy vibes are evident throughout the album, the music tends to be often pretty improvised, laid-back and one-diemensional due to the abscence of dynamics and tight structures.From an academic point of view this is a very good execution and an open-minded approach to progressive music, but the constant presence of mallet percussions make it a bit boring and similar-sounding on the way.The covers are offering something new to the scene and are credited as a great idea by Ed Macan, although you will propably find yourself prefering the original versions.

The only way I could describe this music is mechanic.Cold, technical and loose with a similar atmosphere all the way.Macan's original approach is welcome, but it ends up to be a pretty hard listening as a whole, mostly interesting for musicians with a link with mallet instruments.