THE QUIET ROOM

I'll just come right out and say that this is very standard run-of-the-mill prog metal. There's nothing here that makes this band stand out from all of the other prog metal bands out there. There's very little in the way of strong melody or complexity. There's maybe a few longer instrumental passages or other moments that are good but really nothing mind-blowing and they aren't enough to make this album better than average. There's also the problem with the singer sounding a bit like Geoff Tate from Queensryche although he's not a clone or a copycat necessarily. My guess would be that a lot of prog metal singers have taken his overall vocal approach to singing.

I'm not an expert on prog metal in general but I think it's safe to say there are far better (not to mention far more original) bands out there playing this style. This is actually not a bad prog metal album, but it's not a particularly good one either. So unless you are really into the sound of early Queensryche, or maybe even Dream Theater, or need to have practically every prog metal album in your collection, then this may not be for you. For hardcore prog metal fans only.

"Reconceive" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, Denver, Colorado based progressive metal act The Quiet Room. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in April 2000. The band was founded in 1992 and released two full-length studio albums before they disbanded in 2002. Since the release of "Introspect (1998)" there have been quite a few lineup changes as lead vocalist Chadd Castor has been replaced by Pete Jewell, bassist Josh Luebbers Luebbers is replaced by Rob Munshower, and drummer Mike Rice is replaced by Graeme Wood. The remaining members from the lineup who recorded the debut are George Glasco (guitars), Jason Boudreau (guitars), and Jeff Janeozko (keyboards). So that's 50% of the members who have been replaced since the last album.

The lineup changes have resulted in quite a different sound to the rather traditional progressive metal sound of "Introspect (1998)", and it's especially due to the vocal style of Pete Jewell. The instrumental part of the music is a combination of traditional keyboard laden 90s progressive metal combined with harder edged riffs and rhythms (delivered with relatively complex tempo- and time signature changes). There's an occassional tribal/alternative vibe about the music (listen to "Choke on on Me" for an example of this), but it's just an element of the overall sound. As mentioned it's in the vocal department, that "Reconceive" stands out the most though. Jewell is quite the versatile singer and can do both clean and more gr gruff vocals. He predominantly performs the latter though, which makes "Reconceive" quite a different sounding pr progressive metal release. He doesn't growl or do anything too extreme, but he has a raw shouting delivery, which is quite at atypical for a progressive metal release.

The musicianship is generally on a high level, and the album is also relatively well produced (the guitar tone could have been more pleasant and the guitars could also have packed a bit more punch), so "Reconceive" is overall a pretty good quality album. I'm not sure the most conservative progressive metal listener will find this in his/her taste, but if you enjoy your progressive metal with a groove laden and alternative element, this might be the thing for you. Personally I find "Reconceive" an interesting yet not perfect release, and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

'Introspect' is the 1998 debut by American progressive metal group The Quiet Room. I came across this album on eBay back in its heyday (do people still shop on there?), when searches would often have it come up, being advertised by sellers as similar to prog metal pioneers Fates Warning. That was enough to pique my interest, and to be fair, the similarities in their sound are uncanny.

However, the one resemblance they don't share is quality. Following the typical prog metal blueprint of ambitious song structures with extended musical passages and wailing, high-pitched vocals, The Quiet Room don't really offer anything that hasn't been done better by someone else.

The musicianship is fantastic, and these guys are all more than capable at playing their instruments, but sadly not so much at song writing. Everything seems pretty jarred and disjointed. Oftentimes songs wonder off into aimless territory, twisting and turning in ways that lose my interest instead of engaging me. It's a shame, because the album starts off pretty strong, with opening tracks 'A Different Scene' and 'Grudge' being respectable enough, but anything after struggles to keep my attention longer than a couple of minutes.

No doubt progressive metal was still mostly an underground subgenre at this point, and with only a handful of bands breaking into the mainstream, The Quiet Room are one of many lost causes that were destined to become obscure, forgotten hopefuls.

"Introspect" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Denver, Colorado based progressive metal act The Quiet Room. The album was released through Dominions Records in September 1998. The band was founded in 1992 and released two full-length studio albums before they disbanded in 2002.

The band play what I would characterize as traditional 90s progressive metal. Lots of tempo and time signature changes, excellent instrumental work, where the guitars and the keyboards are equally dominant in the soundscape, and a skilled high pitched lead vocalist. It´s definitely the musicianship that´s the greatest asset on the album, because both the sound production and especially the songwriting are a bit lacking to my ears. The former is acceptable, but lacks power (especially the guitars and the keyboards) while the latter is a bit more critical. In particular the vocal melodies/vocal lines are rather unremarkable. Sometimes to a point where it seems like lead vocalist Chadd Castor (who would leave the band after this release) is desperately seeking a melodic hook to hold on to. As a consequence he sometimes sounds strained and uncomfortable. I´m sometimes reminded of the first couple of Sieges Even albums which featured the same flaw.

...when that is said, "Introspect" isn´t a bad release by any means. It´s just that the album has the potential to be better and when that potential isn´t fulfilled it´s bound to be at least a slight disappointment. However we´re still presented with stellar instrumental performances and intriguing compositional ideas (although the tracks aren´t always put together in the most appropriate manner) enough to warrant a 3 star (60%) rating.

The Quiet Room is an american progressive metal band with two albums since now. This one named Reconceive from 2000 is their second and aswell the final one. Well, I have mixt feelings about this release, because they've try to compose a good album and give to the listner a well rounded release in prog metal, but not entirely succeded. The music is not band, some pasages are real good, and some pieces are strong for this kind of subgenre, but more than half of the album is mediocre, and specially the voice ruins everything here. As I said some pieces are real strong like Reason for Change (the intro from this track is killer) and the instrumental Two Minutes Hate, the rest are between good and mediocre, not necesarly bad but not something very enjoyble to my ears. The voice of Pete Jewell is the thing that I don't like here, this kind of voice for prog metal I don't like, rougher, not very polishet, typical an american accent all over, not for me.The keys of Jeff Janeozko are only background, no really solos or something more catchy, only as support instrument, and not a real solid one, like the guitar duo not really impressed. So, as a whole is not entirelly a bad album, just don't appeal for me very much like other releases from that period. 2.5 for this album, even I'm a collector and a big prog metal fan, this band was and is kinda forgotten in my collection.

Nope. This bucket does NOT hold the water. Reconcieve starts pretty much in progressive metal style. While digging deeper into the opener, eminent prog names like Dream Theatre and Cynic cross my mind... But unfortunately, it doesn't last long. Once you recognize that Reconcive is fake jump into the prog-metal skies, you cannot get past any other track than the opener. Music is repetitive and dull, with no real structure and with no direction at all. It just goes on and on and on in the same tempo, in the same non-structure. It's an album that makes you go mad; you try to dig through it over an over again, but you always stuck somewhere between song no.2 and song no 3. As soon as you stumble upon more complex and dense musicianship, reminiscent of Cynic (and hope that it will at least continue in this direction), you're stormed with unrecognizable vocals, bad guitar work and pointless melody. But since I might be wrong, maybe you, dear reader, could help me out; if you'd only so be so kind and listen the whole album in one try.... and than share a secret how you did it.

Since no one seems to want to do a review on THIS Quite Room CD then I thought, "I have it, and it's really good,......OK, they deserve a good review and I'm just the person for the job". This CD is Sonic nightmare for your speakers, especially the low end, and that's a good thing yes-sirry bob. Right off the bat. 1st song, 1st beat. The drum sound is killer, nice chunky guitar. the key's are a wall of sound themselves. Yawza, These guy's sound amazing......and the song hasn't even kicked in yet. When it finally does (after an amazing crescendo) the guitar's double their pace, double kick drums mercilessly pound you're your speakers low end and the vocals enter with a vengeance. Vocally Pete Jewell is in the same league as James Hetfield from Metallica only more guttural, focused and he has a larger range ta boot . Not to much grunting and NO death vocals but at times they get reeeeeeeal close.. This guy's got some serious pipes. Pete did not sing on their 1st CD. As a matter of fact 3 out of 6 member's have been replaced (voc. Drum, bass). Like I said, The sound is fargin' awesome. The CD was produced and mixed by Kirby Orrick. (he also did the 1st CD )Who obviously knows his stuff. The Quite Room is a much heavier band this time around.all around. In sound, vocals and songwriting. The drummer is so precise. He's the perfect prog. metal drummer. Like Mark Zonder of Fates Warning, new drummer Graeme Wood sounds almost futuristic in the way he plays, and the way the drums themselves sound. The kicks are just the balls!! In the Quite Room, the keyboards and guitars are given equal billing as far as how well they can be heard. As far as the songs go, their mostly of the pissed off/doom and despair motif. So, if the idea of James Hetfield singing some serious prog metal sounds good to you then this band will blow you away. PS. For anyone who cares (like I do)....There's a ton of time signature changes and other such clever stuff throughout this heavy, heavy CD.