WATCHTOWER

Doug Keyser and Rick Colaluca together make up one of the best rhythm sections that I've ever heard in metal. Billy White has some ridiculous soloing and Jason McMaster has an aggressive voice that of course works well with this type of music. At times I can almost hear a bit of Geoff Tate in his vocals to be honest. The songs are well constructed and the production quality is what you would expect of more extreme metal circa mid-80s. This is an absolutely groundbreaking record with few, if any, flaws found in it.

And yet, to be honest, some of the songs feel like they run together and start to feel a bit similar, but that's not really surprising considering this was the first time something this technical was ever seen in metal. Obviously it's going to take some time to get the kinks worked out. If however you want to hear something that was totally refreshing and groundbreaking, as well as technical and a bit more aggressive, then I would definitely recommend this album. 4 instruments shredded to bits out of 5.

Maybe I shouldn't review on first listen... this is the first time I've listened to Energetic Disassembly - and, while I didn't find it easy going, I certainly felt no need to stop the album or skip bits out of boredom. There's a lot to try and absorb in here, and my interest was maintained from the moment it started.

While some bits seem to be there for the sake of it, there are more bits that are there in order to realise a very twisted metal musical imagination, and once you've got the flow of where the ideas are coming from and going to, there's a lot of cohesion to it all.

That said, the beginning strikes you as sloppy, and the vocals are like a monotonous version of Rob Halford, with underpants full of fire ants, the production is naff, the bass farty, and everyone except the guitarist is out of time and struggling to keep up.

This is not uncommon in the more extreme metal acts of the time, as this new genre was subject to even more prejudice than the older form (which is saying something), production engineers generally had yet to get to grips with the music, and bands often hurried to get their ideas down, because studio time was expensive.

But what Billy White does with the guitar here is quite astonishing, as are many of the compositional ideas contained in this album, which, as other reviews state, is where the full ideal of Progressive Metal in it's most Out There and technical sense began. This is not an album for fans of catchy tunes, tinkly keyboards or other such pleasantries.

This is an album almost without precedent - one can detect the strong influence of Steve Vai in White's playing, and the complex compositions vaguely suggest Frank Zappa, while the overall style fits the Heavy Metal canon, particularly the early-mid 1980s explosion of thrash metal. Bands like this were not common. Bands attempting something like this were...

The third track, Tyrants in Distress suffers quite a lot from the technicality for it's own sake thing, and is the first low point on the album in terms of overall quality. The dive-bombing, harmonic flurrying and angular anti-scale shredding is an all-too-scarce treat in this song.

Trouble is, once you've noticed this for it's own sake and soloist-led tendency, you start hearing it everywhere.

You see, the bass tends to follow the root, despite odd solo moments and some nice fills, the drums tend towards the boom-pish - and the standard Iron Maiden and Diamond Head beats - but do have longer moments of doing some very interesting stuff - the title track is a good example of where drum and (brief) bass interest may be found.

Without doubt, Billy White is the star here, but the overall sound that the band make is something almost entirely new. This is the technical approach taken by many to the still growing Thrash Metal genre (ne 1982), but at the highest level for the time - and a pretty high standard it remains.

There's a preponderance of standard song structures here, and many repetitive riffs - but there are so many riffs, and they undergo such savage development treatment, that, as a benchmark of Progressive Metal, you could choose a worse one - although you could also choose a much better produced one too.

The riffs aggressively turn themselves inside out and upside down, do unexpected things, fly off on the occasional tangent and ride the edge of being completely unhinged - yet at the same time, maintain the scary cohesion of a kind of carefully controlled insanity. Sometimes, they drop into something approaching the mundane - but it's like the weather in Scotland: If you don't like what's currently going on, hang on in there, and something more acceptable will be along shortly.

As an insight into the ideals that are expressed (when you read definitions of the genre that often seem preposterous), this stands out across the decades as an intensely shining beacon of potential.

At it's essence, this is a heavy metal album - but one that I cannot find an equal of from 1986. To properly compete with the giants of Prog, I'd like to hear more ensemble work, rather than a featured soloist, clearly responsible for most of the composition - but you can hear that this concept was not unknown to Watchtower the band, (except McMaster, who makes no attempts to be a vocalist, rather, he simply sings the songs).

Given that it's the bands' debut, and a long way from what anyone else was doing at the time, I have no hesitation in recommending this as a good addition to any prog music collection - but mainly from the point of view of it's historic importance. The Wow factor soon fades, as this is an album of potential more than realisation.

Four stars, because, despite a rather shabby veneer, three stars isn't quite enough - I'd say it's not really essential to most Prog fans, although in many ways, it ought to be. What's underneath the exterior more than makes up for it.

Dream Who? :oP

The music on Energetic Disassembly is very complex and played with outstanding skill. The rythm section plays some insanely technical fusion rythms while the guitar is the most normal heavy metal feature in the music. Well don´t expect simple classic heavy metal riffs but Billy White´s guitar riffs is what links this music to heavy metal and then of course Jason McMaster´s high pitched vocals. He is a fabulous vocalist IMO. He is actually pretty agressive which is something I enjoy.

The first time I listened to Energetic Disassembly I was blown back. I have owned Watchtower ´s second album Control and Restistance for many years but never listened to Energetic Disassembly as I was told it wasn´t up to par with it´s successor. But I totally disagree with that statement after listening to Energetic Disassembly as I feel it is an excellent album and for 1985 it´s unique and extremely challenging. The music is very energetic and full of twists and turns. The songs actually have hooks that makes them memorable which is a thing that is sadly missing from many tech metal albums.

The musiciaship is outstanding. It´s incredible that Watchtower at this early a stage in their career was able to sound like this. You´ll be surprised I promise you. Jason McMaster is a powerful vocalist who masters both the high pitched screams and the more agressive singing. Billy White is an excellent guitarist who in addition to playing classic heavy metal riffs at the speed of light also is influenced by jazz/ fusion. The rythm section of bassist Doug Keyser and drummer Rick Colaluca who were the only surviving members on the second album are worth a chapter for themselves. They are one of the most influential rythm sections in tech metal and bands like Atheist, Cynic, Pestilence, Death, Alarum, Sadist and a whole bunch of other tech and progressive metal bands owe a lot to these two brilliant musicians.

The production on the original LP is according to what I have heard not very good, but the CD version I possess have a great production. It´s clearly made in the eighties but it´s very good.

This might be the most essential tech metal album even though it´s not the best. It deserves 5 stars just for it´s innovative nature, but I must say I don´t count it among the absolute elite among tech metal albums so I´ll go for a 4 star rating. A bit unfair maybe but that´s how I feel.

People, progressive metal is composed of bands such as Cynic, Atheist, (early) Death and Pestilence, Voivod, Deathspell Omega, Ulver and the list goes on. One of the first and best ever, being Watchtower. This album is recognizable for the face ripping thrash riffs that it has. This is thrash metal, with progressive influence. Lots of it, I might add. I find that, this album, is much underrated compared to its second massive opus. I prefer this one, although the other one is like Rush, but heavier, and it has Ron Jarzombek, so it's awesome. But this one, having a less impressive quality, and a less impressive guitarist, is still better to my ears. The guitar tone sounds like a striking force ready to attack, but more like a deadly virus, than an army of samurais. Some parts are clearly a reminder of Rush's 80's classic 'Moving Pictures', and of the song 'YYZ'. It's the fast complexity it one riff that I really like, it's pretty much one of the first albums to express this. The two first tracks are fast, heavy and so complex that, you're not really sure of what's really going on in your head while this is playing. The bass is crazy, plus there's an insane bass solo in 'Asylum', it kicks my ass. But it gets really better, the third track 'Tyrants In Distress', it's the most metal song in the whole album, (along-side with 'Violent Change') the intro is killer, and Jason McMaster's voice is so good, it makes the thrash ooze out of the music. It is all composed in a very way and the riffs are really cool. 'Violent Change', 'Energetic Disassembly' and 'Argonne Forest' are of the same vein, fast, hard hitting. But the riffs aren't as complex. 'Energetic Disassembly' is epic. The two last songs are the weirdest, I don't really like Social Fears' much, but the intro is cool. But the beginning intro off 'Cimmerian Shadows' is sweet. There's nothing really to say about this album, it's very good, no, better: it's amazing. But it lacks of progness and originality. But the overall is sick. Great album nonetheless, a must have.

The musicians on the album are beyond astonishing. They are crazy. Gods on their instruments. Alan Tecchio is an extreme singer. His high pitched vocals pierce my ears but he fits the extreme music well. Actually this is pretty agressive music. The bass player is heard very much thoughout the album and Ron Jarzombek makes his entrance into the metal world with a blast. Rick Colaluca is one of the best drummers I have ever heard and I promise you that Sean Reifert has listened to him for inspiration.

The Fall Of Reason is my favorite song here, but all songs are great and really beyond my comprehension. I still enjoy it though. The music is very cold and clinical which is something I favour. The production is a little eighties thin and there are lots of treble. The bass is clearly heard though.

This album has so much history and has inspired so many people over the years that I should give it 5 stars, but on the other hand I think it lacks a little in the melody department and the music gets to be a little repetitive in my ears. This could be because I don´t have the patience to really understand what is going on, but on the other hand I have listened to this album for maybe 50 times through the years and I still have a hard time listening to the whole thing in succesion. It´s still a classic though and deserves 4 stars. Jazz fusion fans should be able to find something interesting here if they don´t let the high pitched vocals scare them away.

However I was disappointed with Control and Resistance, not least by the screeching Vocals of Alan Tecchio which I found totally irritating and tuneless. It's not that I disliked his particular style of singing as such; Geoff Tate from Queensrhyche for example sang in a similar histrionic style but still had strong vocal melodies. To be fair to the guy though, it can't have been easy coming up with melodies for the music here, which is equally lacking in melody. There's no doubting that the band are excellent musicians but it all comes across as a bit soulless and they seem to put a greater importance on technique and making the music as complicated as possible at the expense of a good memorable hook.

I'm not going to talk about tracks individually as none come across as memorable and each one seems to segue into the next without fanfare due to the aforementioned emphasis on technique over song structure. Once it is finished it is instantly forgotten. Perhaps I'm totally missing the point here, but as Dream Theater have proved since you can still have incredibly complex musical structures without losing a sense of melody.

Anyone wanting to check out the roots of Prog Metal may be interested to listen to this and full marks to the band for an innovative idea but unfortunately it falls short on musicality.

WATCHTOWER are a criminally underrated and unknown band, they pretty much invented progressive metal with their incredible technical thrashin' debut 'Energetic Disassembly' back in 1985 and their follow up 'Control and Resistance' is a lot different and more refined but just as good.

The music is quite demanding of the listener, it's certainly an acquired taste as with any kind of technical music, the neck-breaking tempo changes and odd time signatures can make you go insane if you think too hard about them and you can't have technical music without technical musicians, these guys really know how to play their instruments. The drums here are great, very syncopated and thought provoking, they almost never just stick to a beat, there are always nuances and fills that go over the bar line, the bass is every bit as good, it's quite noticeable and high up in the mix which is great because it contributes a great deal both melodically and rhythmically to the music playing the role of intermediary between guitar and drums perfectly. Ron Jarzombek's guitar is something else entirely, his tone and style are instantly recognizable and his wailing harmonised solos are incredibly original are his atonal riffs and licks. Now the vocals are a bit of a sticking point for many people being absurdly over the top, aggressive, high pitched and with operatic vibrato and the lyrics usually involve technological paranoia. I can understand many people discounting the band for the vocals alone I know I did to start but I grew to tolerate and even really enjoy them in time, it's one of those things you either love or hate and if you hate it you really need to give it a chance.

This is one of those albums that is really solid the whole way through, you couldn't pick a weak track out of the bunch, the album is furious and mind bending the whole way through, there are some definite highlights though, the best track is probably the title track with it's compelling political lyrics, it's perfectly structured technicality, it's triumphant chorus and it's bitchin' solo, it's the perfect embodiment of everything that's good about the album. 'Life Cycles' is a fairly mellow song by WATCHTOWER standards and is also a killer track with a strong sense of melody which is something never lost on the guitar genius Jarzombek, even with his über-technical band SPASTIC INK. The album ends on a real high point with 'The Fall of Reason' with some great bass work a nice warm solo and a triumphant chorus yet again.

Control and Resistance is an absolute must for any technical metal fan, if you can get over the vocals then you will definitely find this being one of your favourite albums, fans of SPASTIC INK, BEHOLD... THE ARCTOPUS and MEKONG DELTA will most likely enjoy.

Demonstrations in chaos is essentially a collection of demo songs from WATCHTOWER's (widely considered the first ever progressive metal band) 2 studio albums with about 2 previously unreleased tracks. It does contain some value in that it does sound a lot more thrashy than the albums (probably not a plus from a progressive point of view) and the drums sound more organic. Some of the songs are slightly better than their album counterparts (some of them are just funny like the version of meltdown with a cockney english accent in the chorus) mainly due to the sheer rawness and energy however it has to be said that a lot of the guitar solos are very unbridled and messy - pretty much just shred, the album versions are much more musical and contain more musical merit.

Overall recommended to fans of the band obviously and anyone wanting to investigate the roots of the progressive metal genre it is worthwhile but you'd be much better off getting one or preferably both of their albums.

An absolute treasure for me and sure for many of you. 5 stars, essential album and highly recommended for fans of Fates Warning era Perfect symetry or later on Spiral Architect, Power of Omens and at some point Anacrusis. Techno trash i might say offers Watchtower here but with a good cantity of prog elements, they succeded not to sound like many trash bands from the late '80. Complex album with a lot of stunning pieces like Instruments Of Random Murder, great opener, in fact all the tracks are awesome. Ron Jarzombec uses his style of technical guitar to create some catchy thrash metal riffs as well as some intelligent solos. The next highlight of this album is the unique sound of Doug Keyser's bass. His bass sound is incredible and adds a lot to the overall sound of the album. This band is a classic band of 80's prog metal and this album should be added to your collection if you do not have it, a masterpiece of prog metal and why not of metal in general. Many bands from today find this album as a major influence on their music. 5 stars

Once again the musicians are fantastic, Billy white on guitars pulls out some magical riffs and his solos are very interesting - not to mention the guy shreds. Jason McMaster on vocals is an acquired taste, the over the top high pitched hair metal shrill isn't for everyone - once I gave it a chance though I actually started to like it - a lot. The drums are the highlight of the musicianship here, extremely varied and interesting I always have a great deal of respect for drummers who are capable of producing intense technical metal drumming without the use of double kick (that isn't to say I don't love double kick) Rick Colaluca does so much more than hold the band together he pretty much dictates every song. Unfortunately while the bass is extremely competent it isn't terribly prominent and that brings me on to the next point - the production. I'm a big fan of 80's metal production but even so the production is very rough, the guitars are very far down in the mix (besides the solos) and it's hard to perceive much aside from the drums and the vocals which is kind of a shame and I think it would have been better with real drums as opposed to electronic drums.

Every track on this album is a gem, they all have some great bit that you'll want to listen to over and over again, though there are some standouts and early on meltdown is probably the best song on the album in my opinion. The main riff is great, perfect mix of musicality and technicality, the lyrics here really entertain me, talk of geiger counters, waste disposal, radiation sickness and it's capped off with a blistering solo. Energetic disassembly the title track is another highlight with a masterful drum driven middle section.

When I first listened to this I didn't even know it was the first progressive metal album ever and it blew me away when I did, this stuff is more progressive and technical than most progressive metal released today and that is an amazing achievement. Highly recommended to fans of 80's metal especially thrash and fans of progressive metal who want to explore the genre's roots.