ANOMALY

Anomaly was a very promising Dutch progrock band with members who all had a different musical background, this led to an exciting chemistry! Unfortunately their record company run out of money, soon they disbanded.

1. B-YOND 2K (5:34): This an alternating piece with fine breaks, metal-guitar riffs and propulsive drums, orchestral keyboards and Holdsworth-like guitar runs.

2. >4TH&X (4:06): A very exciting tension between the propulsive metal-guitar riffs, classical keyboards and jazzy, Holdsworth inspired guitar work. It sounds very dynamic.

3. 101101001 (4:58): The first and final part contain a harpsichord-electric guitar duet, halfway fiery electric guitar, a virtuosic guitar-keyboard duet and a powerful rhythm- section.

4. Xtreme (4:54): The intro contains beautiful acoustic piano play, then sensitive electric guitar, great guitar-overdubs and a break with the captivating blend of metal-riffs on guitar, a choir and orchestral keyboards.

5. Mt Chamber (4:40): This one is very fusion inspired featuring vibraphone, warm fretless bass, wonderful strings and in the end a spectacular synthesizer solo.

6. XS D-NIED (5:06): Here a metal-fusion climate, very powerful with a freaky Moog- like synthesizer solo, vibraphone runs and Holdsworth-like guitar play.

7. VIR2AL (8:36): First strings and vibraphone, then a fusion atmosphere with fretless bass, a swinging keyboard solo and a great build-up delivering fiery electric guitar and splendid Fender Rhodes and Moog samples.

8. None Of The Above (4:48): Here we can enjoy a swinging clavinet and again Holdsworth-like guitar work along a flashy duel between the bass and keyboards.

THIS IS A DUTCH PROGROCK ALBUM TO BE PROUD OF!!

To sumarise this band and their music - captivating

Wow, I never thought they sound so good, when I've puted my CD to listen in first place 5 years ago. At first spining this dutch band knocked me out of my socks, Anomaly (forgot to tell you the name of the band, to be not confused with the american same name with Sean Reinert at the helm) did avery good job here. The album selftitled from 2000 released at a small label Bee & Bee Records from Hague (Holland) is a journey into jazz fusion metal of the highest calibre. These guys knows how to use the instruments and give something realy spectacular, not far from Cynic (but without voice of course), Gordian Knot. A superb album that has everything must had a fusion metal release, complex arrangements with stunning fretless bass lines made by John Aponno (maybe one of the most underrated jazz fusion playes of this decade), superb guitar chops and what to say - solid and captivating drum elements. The fusion metal is all over the album, from more mellow escapades with nice piano and keys passages to more rougher ones where Rory Hansen the guitar player shines. John-Paul Muñoz drumer and the gear of this album is simply amazing, what he does on some pieces is beyond easy listning, ex: Xtreme and VIR2AL ( a more laid back piece with nice atmosphere and excellent work on keys and drums), maybe the best pieces from here, the rest are also outstanding. In the end a highly recommended band and album for prog metal listners but aswell jazz fusion amateurs will enjoy this one very much. A very solid album with superb musicianship who manage to release only one album, sad, because they were a very promising band with a lot of potential. This album must be clasified as a major release in this field, while is not so known to larger public they desearve to be discovered for sure. Highly recommended - 4-4.5 a close to be a masterpiece, essential to any collection.

This is a very interesting instrumental band from the Netherlands. Although labeled as prog metal, their main influence is jazz and jazz-rock/fusion. The first track, B-YOND 2K, is quite misleading, having all the Dream Theater cliches you might find in several bands of the late 90´s and early 00´s: short, abrasive metal riffs, big drums a la Mike Portnoy and atmospheric keys. But as the tracks flow the jazz elements become more evident and by the end of the CD, with the exception of the straight, heavy metal drumming style of John-Paul Muñoz , you´ll think that this is definitely a jazz-rock combo. They also say that there is some classical music influence, but I found none as far as I can hear. How they should be labeled? jazz-metal, maybe?

The music itself is quite interesting, but nothing really spectacular. In fact, this self titled CD can be rated as promising: the tunes are nice, the musicians know their trade and the overall performance is convincing. Anomaly certainly showed some good ideas, proved their sound has something of a distinctive personality, but they are still green in terms of writing good, catchy stuff. The album does not move me much: they have the potential to go very far (if they are still around)., but they still had to honey their songwriting skills. The best parts lay on the second half of the CD, where the songs are more creative and escape from the shadow of Dream Theater. The Art Of War is the longer (and best) track here, and shows their potential in full. Production is merely adequate. They would benefit enormously with a cleaner sound.

rating: 3 stars. Good, but definitely non essential.