CLEANSE

Multi-instrumentalist Andrew Arnold has apparently been weaving his creative musical web since 2007, yet it was just today that I discovered him. Luckily for me, he offers downloads of his music for free, so I was able to check out his latest gem without any hesitation. My philosophy was, 'what do I have to lose?'. Good think I have this Experimental Metal project a listen. I feel like my life has been brightened up because of it.

It starts off with an intro track that makes me feel as if I'm about to go insane, but in a good way. Frantic, disruptive, and noisy. Off to a good start. I then begin to hear a song that is very straightforward at first, but still very enjoyable. However, after the 1:00 mark is exceeded, the song suddenly sifts into a drakly beautiful melody that spoke to me immediately. Clever rhythms paired with unusual yet compelling crunchy guitar riffs help keep this song interesting and unrepetetive for the entire track length

Track 3, Solace, starts art with a very Tool-meets-Isis kind of vibe, with some hard-hitting bass playing overtop of atmospheric ambience. Then some booming, tribal drumbeats come in to play,, and the guitar doesn't even begin to show until a minute five seconds in, but when it does, it displays a truly chilling feedback-clad guitar solo. Very ethereal and dream-like. This song reaches a new level of musical greatness by five minutes in, and I feel like I'm listening to a Pinkl Floyd record, due to the spacey, dreamy guitar sounds, and yet just when it get to the point where I can't stand the beauty anymore, the crunchy guitar comes back in stronger than ever. The fact that all of this magical sound paint is coming out of one man's mind is absolutely astonishing. This epic ways it at a heafty Eight minutes and Twenty- Six seconds, yet it went by so fast and I enjoyed it so much that I wasn't ready for it to end yet. That's a mark of a good composer, right there; to be able to make nearly ten minutes go by without the listener feeling restless at even one moment takes talent. Opeth could takes lessons from this guy (Watershed, anyone?).

Allow me to point something out right now: I am astonished as to how amazingly clean and crisp this music sounds. As far as I know, this is just some guy making his own music for the hell of of. I mean, he doesn't even charge for his music, and yet, it sounds so good and professional. He could absolutely get away with selling his albums in CD form if he would want to start making money off of it.

Tidal is another amazing track (Seems like these amazing tracks follow one right after another without getting weak on this album). It is also the album's longest track, lasting just under ten minutes, and again, it is one of thise situations in which I couldn't believe all that time had already passed. Mr. Arnold, I salute you. To go into too much detail on this track wouldn't do it justice, so just let me say that it is quite possibly my favorite song of the whole album, and this track alone is probably some of the best music I have heard to come out of the Experimental/Post-Metal scene since Tool's La te ra lus record back in '01. I kid you not, this is that good, at least in my eyes and ears. Just extraordinary. You must listen to it.

Cassini I is undoubtedly the most Space-Rock-influenced track on the record, and becomes very eery bvery quickly. Sent shivers up my spine in a few places, as it gives off an impoending sense of doom. If that was Mr. Arnold's intention, then he very much succeeded. Another great track.

The song's continuation, Part II, is very light and melodic at times, and makes me think of my childhood for some reason. Not sure if this sense of nostalgia will hit everyone who listens to this track, but I am saying that it is definately worth dimming the lights, cranking up the headphones and flowing downstream to this-- more so this applies to this track than any other on the record. Absolutely beautiful.

Voyager, this Opus' seventh perfect song in a row (and in case you haven't been counting, it's the album's seventh song, period.), once again comes back in with the heavy princibles that the earlier tracks in the record have been following, only this time Andrew sings in a very modern rock-ish, gruff style. Not really a growl, but not clean singing, either. Not to worry, though; this style of vocalization absolutely fits the music found accompanying it, and compliments it in every aspect. Again making this song feature everything right that could possibly be done in a song.

New Truth is the second longest song on the album, and the vocal melodies found within this track are absolutely haunting and lovely. It made me feel something special emotionally just like the other tracks, maybe even more so. Great, great track, yet again.

''Terminus Ad Quem''. It even reads like a Tool closing track. Sadly, it also sounds like one. This is perhaps the only track that I found less-than-perfect. That isn't to say it is a bad track, but it sounds drawn out slightly longer than it should be, and full of filler. Anyone who listens to Tool records knows exactly what I'm talking about; an entire album full of great quality music, then a final obscure track full of mostley nothing but noise (Except the AEnima record, which featured filler mostley in between tracks, while the album closer was epic and sensational). Who knows, though. It could grow on me after awhile, but for now, this is merely a decent track. But ah well, one small error does not a bad album make.

So, overall, what can I tell you about Mr. Andrew Arnold and his musical project that he calls DETERIOR? Y'know, keeping it short, it is THE best album I have heard of the year thus far. Hands down. The best. Number one album of the year in my opinion, um . . . this is all there is to it. The man is a musical genious, as far as I am concerned. He did everything right with this album. Cleanse is truly an opus; a masterpiece of Prog Music, and certainly the best Experimental/Post-Metal album to come out in years, at least based on what I've been listening to. It's honestly a shame that this incredibally giften man is simply giving his music away like this, when he could be making a perfectly decent living off of it-- it's that good.

This isn't just some kid who plugged in a guitar one day and decided to record some rough song ideas without another thought; this is a complete, well thought out and well composed experience that should not be taken lightly by anybody. If you decide to listen to this music, brace yourself. Don't pay any mind to the fact that it is just one guy making music at home. It sounds like a full band that was professionally recorded by a top producer such as Bottrill or Rubin. Honestly. Yeah, the production is a little rough hear and there, but that's just do to the mastering process, I'm sure. If this guy would go into a pro-quality studio and remix this thing, it could rival any mainstream release available today, possibly even surpass it.

Sound too good to be trye? Well, maybe I'm the only one here who will have this opinion of this record, but may I just say that having said that, you have absolutely nothing to lose. Go to this man's website. He's offering his entire catelogue for free download right now, so you have no excuse for not trying out this music. Personally, I think it's one of the great Post-Metal efforst ever, but perthaps I am mistaken. Eihter way, this record impressed me beyond description, and for that reason alone it is wirth listening to by anyone who is a fan of this subgenre of Prog. And you can bet that I will be listening to every other record ever released by Deterior very, very soon.

Four stars. An excellent addition to any Prog music collection. Now if only it were available to own in physical form . . .

Happy listening.