THE ARCHITECT

eMolecule is one of the newest projects to have entered the world of progressive rock, albeit with two very familiar faces - Kelly Nordstrom and Simon Collins, formerly of Sound of Contact. This new collaboration between the two musician bring to life the album 'The Architect', a rather unorthodox progressive rock release that impresses with its haunting, almost mechanical atmosphere, raging guitars and additional layers of effects and keys, together with the pulsating drums of Collins. And naturally this project is nothing like Sound of Contact - eMolecule is a collaboration that seemingly focuses on the heavier sounds within the genre and is much more enraged, technical and gloomy. But despite the expectation, the entire album is actually made up two incrementally different musical sides as the music transitions from almost electronic, moody passages with heavy guitars to a more lighthearted, acoustic and occasionally even ambient side that is quite expressive and interesting.

We have an intricate, passionate playing that is focused and occasionally very calculated, there is a great balance here between the heavy guitars and the synth passages as well as an interesting use of processed vocals as well as clean vocals not only as a tool for conducting the lyrical contents on the record, but also as an instrument that adds yet another sheet to the plastered, dense sonic structure of the record. The 10-minute opener is a slowly built but energetic entry that introduces an influence of urban music to the album, followed by a couple of really appealing tracks that at times might make you think of Porcupine Tree or even OSI, even if they're not direct influences for the duo as far as we know. Collins and Nordstrom are able to intertwine some very melodic choruses into the grid of their songs, and tracks like 'The Architect', 'Prison Planet' and 'Dosed' do just that. But then right after 'The Turn' the band offers a musical shift as we seem to have that Sound of Contact influence, when some of the songs could be interpreted as the heavier versions of 80s Genesis - 'Awaken', 'Beyond Belief', 'My You' are all surprising entries that reveal a more mellow side of the album and an obvious influence from the duo's past works.

'The Architect' can be a fascinating listen if the listener is willing to invest some effort for its understanding as the album goes through a variety of moods and crosses several genres, it is a somewhat eclectic piece of music that expands the pedigree of both Nordstrom and Collins.