CHAOS TO CONTROL

Nice band hailing from USA,heavily influenced by the three legends of progressive metal,DREAM THEATER,QUEENSRYCHE and FATES WARNING.From the three bands I would say they resemble most of FATES WARNING.The keyboard work is in the vein of DREAM THEATER but the rhythm section,the vocals and the guitars are mostly influenced by FATES WARNING.There are also some classic heavy metal influences in the vein of IRON MAIDEN and CRIMSON GLORY very good refined under the genre of prog metal.There is a great balance between some melodic tracks and some more technical ones.A great band to watch and a must have for fans of the lighter side of prog metal!

Chaos To Control is the debut album from American progressive metal band Magnitude 9. I´ve seen this album in Inside Out´s catalogues for many years and finally got a chance to buy it. It´s one of the better progressive metal purchases I´ve done in some time.

The music is very typical progressive metal with heavy hard edged riffs and shredding solo work like Symphony X, keyboards ala Dream Theater and a more soft approach in some of the parts that reminds me of Fates Warning. I know this sounds generic and it is sometimes, but Magnitude 9 is better than most other clone bands I´ve encountered. I especially enjoy the shredding guitar work from Rob Johnson. He is a very skilled guitarist. The songs are pretty good with some good ideas and a few surprises along the way. As with many other progressive metal releases the music does become a bit trivial near the end of the album and I really wish for more experimentation.

The musicianship is really good and the production is pretty good too.

The cover art is really bad. It´s not a good way to sell your product.

Chaos to Control is an above average progressive metal album that deserves 3 stars. Had Magnitude 9 worked more with a personal sound this could easily have been a 4 star album, but many of the ideas on Chaos to Control have been used before by some of the above mentioned bands and the biggest problem is that those bands have used them much better. Chaos to Control is still an enjoyable album and recommendable to fans of progressive metal. Just don´t expect something very original.

I agree with UMUR's thoughts on this one. MAGNITUDE 9's debut is chalk full shredding guitar that reminds me of Jasun Tipton from ZERO HOUR. Thunderous drumming and keyboard flurries. I much prefer it when they tone it down though. So I admire the way these guys play but my enjoyment level isn't high enough to give this 4 stars. Great vocals by the way.

"End Of Time" opens with synths as the guitar comes ripping in. Heavy riffs come thundering in. It settles after a minute, I really like this part as it reminds me of FATES WARNING. It's riff time again as contrasts continue. Excellent opening track. "Voices" is interesting the way the tempo speeds up quickly and then settles back throughout the song. More Tipton-like guitar before 2 1/2 minutes. "Into The Sun" is mid-paced and very FATES WARNING-like when the vocals come in and the guitar grinds away. I like this one. "Keeper Of Your Soul" is uptempo with lots of guitar.The drumming is relentless. Great vocals. "Secrets Within" opens with a wall of guitars as the tempo picks up with pounding drums. It eases up some before 1 1/2 minutes. More crazy guitar later.

"Another World" is my favourite track. Love the heavy soundscape that takes over before a minute. Hell ya ! Vocals join in. This rocks out really good. Great sound before 4 minutes. Some vocal samples 5 minutes in. "Don't Say" is a good mid paced heavy tune. "After Tomorrow" kicks along at break-neck speed. Quite powerful too. A calm 3 minutes in but it doesn't last long. "YK2" is another favourite of mine. It opens with a nice heavy sound as spoken vocals come in. He's singing now as the mid-paced heavy sound continues. The guitar rips it up 2 minutes in and a minute later followed by more spoken words. "Writings" builds until vocals and synths come in. Great sound. Nice and heavy with thunderous drums.

I have the InsideOut edition with a different track listing, different cover art too. As UMUR mentions the art work is not good at all. Nothing new here but it's very well done. 3.5 stars.