DISCONNECT

This album starts right away with the cover art. It was pointed out to me by friend, Conor Fynes, that the cover art depicts a famous photograph that goes all to well with the theme of the album, Enough Blame To Go Around; The tragic events of September 11, 2001 are woven in emotions into the look, sound and feel of the album, which begins with the famous "Falling Man" photograph from the day of horror and desperation.

As noted by many other reviewers, the name, Disconnect, originates from the distance between the artists Erich O'Dell and Brian Eschrich, who require the wonders of internet to collaborate on their work. The result this time is the enjoyable "Enough Blame To Go Around", an album displaying the emotions and thoughts brought on by the tragic events of September 11, 2001 in New York City.

The music found on this LP is very well done, noticeable on the first track "Adventures in Taxidermy" right away. On this, King Crimson influences are certainly noticeable, bringing a definite enjoyment in listening to the album. The music writing and editing is done so well, and I found myself almost lost by the beautiful sounds brought forth by the melodies and fantastic layering. "Inside Job" is a great example of this greatness; I really love all that the instruments have to offer in this specific piece. Everything is done incredibly well here, and it causes great anticipation for the rest of the album.

One element that is certainly noticeable in the music, is the mood. Rightfully so, this album holds on to some intense and deep mood brought forth by the inspiration of 9/11, Though I am not familiar with previous Disconnect work, the music here certainly displays how inspired these gentlemen were in the creation of this somber LP. "Falling Man" especially begins with a heavy dark mood following a 9/11 news report, which is more than enjoyable. Dark atmosphere is music is something I find I really appreciate.

The symbolism and meaning of the song titles and certainly parts and elements found in Enough Blame To Go Around is incredible. The writing is certainly done well, and this LP has been well composed. A quick example of this is in the song "Falling Man", which, around the 9:11 mark, changes tone and attitude into an awesome section of flamenco- esque guitar. Really enjoyable, definitely intended, and certainly symbolic.

Enough Blame To Go Around is certainly an album I enjoyed, and I will be looking at more of Disconnect's work because of this. Everything is well done this album, and although I am not a huge fan of the singing in some songs, I really loved the instrumental work. The album finished incredibly well with the track "Twisting The Knife" which holds the all important role of the finishing song. It does its job very well, and leaves the listener feeling the emotions the album set out to display. Excellent album, fantastic work.

This latest 2012 album "Enough Blame to Go Around" is a very well developed musical journey, that delves deep into the very serious topic of what really happened on September 11th when the Twin Towers were demolished by plane collisions. It is a topic that has sparked a myriad of conspiracies and Disconnect explore some of these in their lyrics. The album cover took me by surprise as I did not even notice the enigmatic falling man image almost subliminally seen in the centre. The infamous image is one that has led to the "Falling Man" documentary where many people jumped to their deaths when they knew the building was going to collapse. It is a potent image and the music on the album seems to echo with empathy towards the victims.

'Adventures in Taxidermy' gets things rolling with an ambient though unsettling soundscape, and then a phased guitar with a riff sounding similar to Beethoven's famous Symphony No. 5 intro. It launches into a simple guitar riff and some processed vocals, though I prefer Erich's vice without the effects vocoder. The track builds inexorably to a powerful lead break over a broken progressive signature. This is a heavier track with a ton of distortion, though maintains clean guitar modulation and picking in the Robert Fripp style. I like the deep bass tones on the ending and the staccato piano flourishes, giving it an atonal resonance. 'Inside Job' is a powerful instrumental dominated by guitar prowess and brilliant keyboards. It has a driving beat that locks in and some outbreaks of guitar finesse. The rhythm reminds me of King Crimson, clear influences on the album. It is akin to parts of "Larks' Tongues In Aspic" and the "Discipline" era. It is terrific how it builds with synth pads and ascending guitar phrases. The fractured time sig is more progressive than the Crossover genre will often allow, and perhaps this is the band's most progressive and creative album, particularly in terms of utilising progressive elements. Although parts are not consolidated or juxtaposed together well, somehow it still maintains interest and I would suggest that this instrumental is an outstanding composition that brings together a plethora of ideas in to the mix.

'Falling Man' has a prominent news broadcast about the 9/11 tragedy, one that I had not heard so I did not know of its legitimacy or not. It certainly leaps out of the speakers when the sirens resound and those words are heard from a collage of many broadcasts over a Middle Eastern musical figure; "we have something that has happened here at the World Trade Centre, terrorist alert planes crashing into the tower, there is smoke billowing and covering all of the smaller skyscrapers, there are people jumping out the windows!" Once the guitar riff locks in we hear some vocals and a King Crimson polyphonic time sig similar to the Crims 80s era. The very strong synths that are heard are mesmirising and then a blistering wah-wah lead break dominates. The vocals sung are rather potent; "As I look around the world, shoulda known this would come, you may not like our voice, but at least we have a choice." This leads to soaring lead guitar and a crunching riff, and then another verse voicing the hopelessness of the situation; "as I look from my tower." The next section leads to a rather surprising Eastern guitar rhythm, with Iraqi flavours. The lead guitarwork is phenomenal in the next segment at 10 minutes in. One may be reminded of 80s era Rush in the section at 11:10 with the jangly riff and soaring lead work. This masterful track is easily the best song on the album.

I had my ears peeled throughout the album for other lyrical hints as to what happened or what is speculated to have happened on that fateful day. I was also quite taken back as to the musical structures throughout the album, at times sounding like Spock's Beard or as complex as King Crimson. Much of this is elongated instrumentals that have nice melodies and some odd time signatures to keep things flowing. It takes a while to grow on the ear but certain sections are unforgettable. I love the musical break on 'Falling Man' for instance, and there is a very assertive time sig on 'Sufficient'. The main hypnotic motif of 'Sufficient' is very effective, oddly off kilter and with some well executed vocals with a distinctive Spock's Beard sound. The reverb electric piano works well, and it leads to a very strong instrumental passage, with dark bass and drum crunches, a towering lead break and relentless spacey synth washes. At 4:15 it gets atmospheric with ethereal whispers and reverberating synth. It explodes into a faster tempo and exceptional lead solo over polyrhythmic figures.

The final track is a mammoth epic, 'Twisting the Knife', beginning with an ominous drone and ivory tickling as a guitar chimes. There is the sound of waves crashing and an intoxicating Pink Floyd guitar sound. A guitar and piano riff enters and more processed vox in the same vein as Porcupine Tree's 'Radioactive Toy'. It moves into a faster and irregular time sig, with more Crimson punctuated guitar rhythms. Edrich sings; "You're out of your league, making best of what's left, unexpected chance, far convenient romance, anxious days, endless night, what's meant to be, passes us by." The time sigs switch often as does the vocal style, and more Pink Floyd style verses are heard similar to the melodies in 'Time'. The wah-wah lead break and rhythm in the instrumental is akin to the music on Pink Floyd's "Animals", such as 'Pigs', as is the echo vocal style. With all these influences emerging it is hard to latch onto the band's definitive sound, but it seems to be divided between the melodies of Spock's Beard, the vocals and guitar work of Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd, and utilising the polyrhythms of King Crimson. I must admit the peaceful guitar solo at 9 minutes is nice and bluesy creating a gentle atmosphere. It motorvates along for a while until the whole song changes at 14:00 with some nice industrial rhythms and it sounds more like Porcupine Tree at this point. It ends with fret melting lead guitar work featuring a flurry of sustained string bends and fast arpeggios and hammer ons.

There are only 5 songs but some are of considerable length such as the 3 epics 'Adventures in Taxidermy' (12:00), 'Falling Man' (17:32) and 'Twisting the Knife' (18:44). Overall, "Enough Blame to Go Around" is a vast improvement over the debut and is well worth a listen for anyone who is not too discerning and likes their prog served up chilled with melodic flavours and simmering with atmospheric lengthy instrumentals.

The opening track 'Adventures in Taxidermy' is delightfully dark both lyrically and musically and rolls nicely into the aforementioned 'Inside Job' instrumental. This is followed by the truly epic 'Falling Man', an account/observation of 9/11. This is hands down one of the best prog tracks I've heard from any band this year. There are some absolutely astounding musical breaks here, of particular note are the Middle Eastern acoustic sections of the song ? an entire world of sound you rarely hear prog bands venture into. This is followed by 'Sufficient', a seemingly straightforward track of which my appreciate continues to grow over time with its clever usage of odd meter. The album closes with another epic track 'Twisting The Knife', which while not as impactful and impressive as 'Falling Man', it features some great moments as well throughout its 18+ minute lifespan. Within it we are treated to additional influences of Pink Floyd and Steely Dan.

In Disconnect I hear a band that appears to be on the verge of breaking out from their influences and holding their own amongst the cluttered prog landscape. Their arrangements are very tight and while there are some points where additional elevation may have been possible, this does not detract from my appreciation of this album. The vocals are solid throughout, complementing the music well, quite soulful and sincere yet not quite reaching that 'next level'. From an instrumentation perspective, I have great respect for the guitar work ? which shows technical proficiency as well as truly emotive sensibility. The usage of vintage keyboards is a centerpoint to Disconnect's sound and are distributed tastefully throughout each track. The drum performance is simply fantastic ? precise, powerful and appropriate. I plan to check out the band's back catalog and look forward to their future efforst. For me, this album receives 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

Many influences are felt, especially in the modern progressive, especially from groups like Porcupine Tree, The Flower Kings and Spock's Beard. Thus, the stamp Erich O'Dell, if not perfectly controlled, strongly reminiscent of that of Roine Stolt, leader of the Flower Kings, while we find the same reverb on the voice, and the same vibrato worked on moments loud and quiet. This is not a bad thing, quite the contrary, it gives birth to polyphony sometimes quite bold and very well turned as the "Look Around! 'Of' Adventures in Taxidermy "or the coda of 'Falling Man', which is also by far the best song on the album. I hear lots of vintage keyboards used throughout this album, a very nice touch indeed.

But what is interesting is that here, as in many progressive works behind the form hides its background, thus forming the so far would not qualify as art total involving many aspects including the cover artwork and lyrics. Thus, most of the songs are a theme often quite interesting: 'Adventures in Taxidermy' is based on a true story that occurred in America, namely, a taxidermist who murdered his wife and having disguised the murder in his creations. 'Falling Man' is 17 minutes long and develops a reflection on the differences between Eastern and Western mentalities background commemorating the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center, with no real political intentions hear if one pays attention to the lyrics. The theme is wonderfully showcased through collages of journalistic extracts recalling the terror of the attack as well as use of acoustic timbres and percussion referring to oriental/middle eastern sounds. But the two musicians did not abandon their instruments so far, as evidenced by 'Inside Job', and quite heavy instrumental track filled with great riffs. 'Sufficient' is also a good piece dominated by major polyphony catchy and strongly reminiscent of Porcupine Tree.

"Enough Blame To Go Around" is an excellent modern prog album. With 5 pieces (including 3 over 12 minutes), ideas are fused from everywhere and the production quality is excellent. This album is sure to challenge listeners fond of music rich and searched.

The album is rounded out with an instrumental that brings to mind early King Crimson, as well as the curious "Adventures In Taxidermy"...a track that took a couple listens before I realized what the song was actually about (a murder). The remaining track "Sufficient" stands out on its own as it has a different tone than any of the other songs. A quieter approach but the lyrics are quite stabbing in contrast to the music underneath.

The power of the two long tracks alone is more than enough to carry this album, but it is not brought down in the least by the 3 remaining tracks whatsoever. Each of these songs have their own identity, I do not hear a band that is repeating itself or relying on the same tricks over & over. My single issue with the album is that the vocals take a bit of getting used to. At first I was a little uncomfortable with the singing style, but after the 2nd listen (and beyond) I came to appreciate the vocals as much as anything else. Overall an outstanding album by an unknown group which will stay in my playing rotation for a long time to come.

On Enough Blame To Go Around, they have upped the ante considerably. This new album is so impressive that it's making me reconsider the lofty ratings I've given their previous albums. As another review stated, this is their magnum opus, one that I certainly hope they'll be able to top in the future.

Although their music is primarily guitar-driven (and why not, Erich O'Dell is a fantastic guitarist), EBTGA's sound is much more dominated this time around by a wide array of keyboard tones, ethnic instruments and creepy sound effects. The more I listen, the more I realize an attempt was made to avoid 4/4 time as much as possible, but it's mostly done in a way that''s very subtle (the verse sections of Sufficient are a great example).

They've also upped the distortion considerably. While none of their songs could ever be considered happy, this is by far Disconnect at their most aggressive, moody, loud and yes, progressive. In much the same way I got an overwhelming feeling of joy from the new Echolyn album, I get the impression that the guys in Disconnect were royally pissed when they wrote these songs.

Sometimes getting angry is a good thing, apparently.

Say what you will; the internet is a pretty cool thing. It's arguably an innovation of significance on par with that of the printing press or radio, and without it, I would likely have never seen so many 'cute kitten' videos. Presumably, the internet also plays a great role in the music of Disconnect, an American two-man duo living states apart from each other. A musical collision of longtime collaborators Brian Eschrich and Erich O'Dell, Disconnect is an act that has received quite a bit of attention within the progressive community, in spite of releasing their music independently. I first heard about this band back in 2010 or 2011 with their album "Indivision", an album I found myself instantly enjoying. Being a big fan of the immortal Rush, Disconnect's distinct "Hemispheres"-era influence was a real joy to behold. "Enough Blame To Go Around" is Disconnect's fourth offering to the world of prog, and while they are still drawing from a similar palette of sounds and influences, the ambition has been kicked up a notch. Disconnect may not be as instantly enjoyable as they were on "Indivision", but the lasting quality makes it entirely worth checking out.

"Enough Blame To Go Around" is a tightly performed and put-together album, but it rarely feels like a professionally orchestrated work. As far as the production is concerned, the music could have been helped with a little added polish, but the 'homegrown' sound Disconnect sports gives it a feeling of instant warmth that I rarely hear in a lot of mechanical prog these days. These things considered, the complexity and scope of Disconnect's songwriting is rather remarkable this time around. Although the music is highly melodic and vocal-driven, Disconnect have amped up the 'proggy' aspect of their identity. A quick look at the back of the CD jewel case proves my point; two of the songs rest between the seventeen and nineteen minute marks, and the runt of the litter ("Inside Job") is a hefty eight-and-a-half minutes. This should also go to prove another of my points; despite the wealth of relatively accessible moments throughout "Enough Blame To Go Around", Disconnect have crafted an album that demands several listens before it starts making total sense. As 'epics' go, these pieces don't have the sort of classic structure to them, and can feel sometimes like a string of interesting ideas tied together in a way that is only half- complimentary.

Were I judging Disconnect's songwriting based on its structure alone, I may have been disappointed, likely negatively comparing it to the crisp 'album-long epic' flow on "Indivision". While I wouldn't say that Disconnect have quite nailed the ebb-and-flow of a progressive rock epic, there are a great deal of great passages within that are totally worth the patchy structures. Parts of "Twisting the Knife" are impossible not to be reminded of Rush's "The Camera Eye", and its swirling guitar climax closes off the album brilliantly. It is also impossible not to be moved in some way by the opening moments of "Falling Man", a brilliantly arranged Middle-Eastern music sample played underneath a collage of news reports of the 9/11 attacks. In truth, every track offers a fair share of wonderful moments, although I cannot help but wish that they were a little more organized.

Although the 'disconnected' nature of Disconnect's recording might lead to assumptions that their performance here is amateurish, O'Dell and Eschrich have a great musical chemistry. In particular, Eschrich's drumming is consistently impressive, offering a tightness that the rest of the sound is built around. Erich O'Dell's voice is a major part of the music, and though his vocals may not have a powerful resonance to them, he's capable of conveying a good warmth and feeling. O'Dell's big talent is with the electric guitar. Falling somewhere between the thoughtful rhythms of Alex Lifeson and the soulful lead style of David Gilmour, O'Dell brings many different tones to the table throughout the hour-plus of music on "Enough Blame To Go Around". As mentioned by other reviewers, the musical pieces do not always fit, but Disconnect's musical successes are passionate and powerful.

Although Disconnect's melodic style seems better fitted for a more concise song format, I give them every bit of encouragement to go 'big' with their sound. With that being said, I feel like "Enough Blame To Go Around" could have been even better, given a little more focus and structure. Although their recording standard is distinguishable from a 'professional' calibre, Disconnect have put together a tasteful, albeit inconsistent record with this one.