MIOSIS

"State Of Lacuna" sort of builds in stages then it settles back 2 minutes in when the vocals arrive.They're more passionate 4 minutes in. A calm 6 minutes in with bass then drums before the guitars and vocals return. "Once Divine" has this heavy duty intro but it settles when the vocals come in. It kicks back in. Hell ya ! Contrasts continue. Such a good track. Check out the drumming early on "Our Floods". Reserved vocals after 1 1/2 minutes as it settles. It's still powerful though. Just a great sounding tune. Check out the guitar then the bass and drums after 4 1/2 minutes. "Benandanti" is heavy with bass and drums with vocals and guitar over top. Spoken words 3 minutes in and later. Aggressive guitar before 6 minutes. Great song.

"Flow" builds to a TOOL-like soundscape.Vocals 1 1/2 minutes in. Nice fat bass here as usual. Intense is the word after 4 minutes. "The Lucid" is heavy with vocals right away. I like the vocals here a lot. It settles some as the bass stands out and the vocals become more reserved. It's still has this powerful undercurrent. It kicks back in as contrasts continue, although this is mostly kick ass stuff. "Red" is the closer and the longest track at almost 11 1/2 minutes. It kicks in powerfully yet it's mid paced. Synths for the first time too before 1 1/2 minutes. Reserved vocals follow. It keeps building and settling. Killer track ! Synths are back again 10 minutes in.

Nothing less than 4 stars will do for this one. I enjoy it way too much.

3(+), possible more.

"State of Lacuna" Straight from there beginning, there is a quiet intensity. With such subtle urgency, it is easy to expect an impending blast of distortion, but it only becomes moderately heavy, and the vocals are at once powerful and rather pleasant. The instrumentation relies on dynamics rather than aggression, and this makes for a remarkable first tune.

"Once Divine" The band saves the harder metal for the second track- probably a wise move, since it allows the listener to hear another dimension. It isn't nearly as great as the previous track, but it's good.

"Our Floods" This somewhat heavy track sounds like a cross between modern King Crimson and Ozzy Osbourne- not a bad combination, really. The Tool influence is quite clear.

"Benandanti" A creative riff begins this beastly track. It stays generally heavy throughout, and although I think it a wee too long for its own good, it's one I really enjoy.

"Flow" The opening guitar is fantastic, with exotic-sounding bends and crackling distortion. Again, it's the relationship between the guitars and the bass that makes this what it is- a magnificent and inspired piece of music.

"The Lucid" Hard-hitting right from the beginning, this song has a great sound but a somewhat trite chord progression. Continuing in this way makes for a solid but ultimately unexciting track. Even the main riff gets repetitive (and then, as a bonus, gets paired with that chord progression).

"Red" The lengthiest track has a brief atmospheric opening, which gets interrupted by a mid-tempo series of sludgy guitars and light synthesizer. There is a subtle counterpoint vocal in one section that's quite cool, and I enjoy how the piece employs both quiet and heavy sections. Still, like most of this album, this song doesn't leave much of a lasting impression at all. Fans of recent Porcupine Tree will likely find a great deal to relish.

First of all, they sound much more alive then Tool does on their studio albums. I remember being introduced to Tool during a festival in 1991 and I was completely blown away. Since then I checked out all their albums but I never find that feeling back they had hit me with on that live gig. Miosis does. Their take on Tool sounds energetic, crisp, spontaneous and deeply moving.

This brings me to the next point. I don't know what it is with these Swedes but somehow they pull my emotional strings. Bands like Anekdoten and Opeth(-light) have that understated melancholy to them that I can't seem to find back with other bands. The vocalist here actually reminds me a lot of Jonas Renske from Katatonia. Actually, he would fit somewhere in between Jonas Renske and the nasal Ozzy-style of Mastodon. In my world, that makes him more enjoyable then Mastodon, but slightly less then Katatonia.

Next point, and always very important to me, would be the songs and the musicianship. No criticism here, there are no dips on this consistent album. All songs have plenty of entrancing bass grooves, melody, variation, and crescendo developments. All musicians are competent and play together very tightly. The singer however would be the weaker link. Despite his heartfelt delivery, I sometimes get tired of his voice after a few songs but that may be just me. I don't know. From what I've heard they would seek another singer. Let's hope the replacement can stir up the same emotions and add a bit more dynamics in the vocals.

A great item for fans of Tool, Katatonia and recent Porcupine Tree.