DECODING THE SOUL

There is something about metal and melodic rock that pulls me in without fail, like there is some kind of invisible magnet in every note of the music, or a subliminal message embedded in the grooves of the CD that calls out to me. It is so straightforward yet filled with more hooks than you can shake a stick at. MAGNITUDE 9 is another one of those bands that once you hear them, you cannot seem to get enough and their songs never get old.

In January of 2004, the band plans to unleash their third album ''Decoding The Soul". The cover alone will have you transfixed with its "War Of The Worlds" imagery. The image seems to say . we are looking for you, you cannot run and hide, and we will find you and then decode your soul to takeover the human race. Does it really seem all that far fetched these days? Who knows? Maybe I am watching too much Star Trek lately.

All of that of that sci-fi stuff aside, the music is outstanding. There are great vocals (Corey Brown), a powerful rhythm section (John Homan - drums & Ian Ringler - bass), a guitar player that is ready to take on the world and conquer it with one flick of the wrist (Rob Johnson), and the final piece, keyboard wizardry (Joseph Anastacio Glean) to turn it all into true to form progressive rock. The layer of keyboards always seems to alleviate the influence of the other parts just enough to give a composition more balance and division.

It is nice to see this band is from the U.S., lately it seems a lion's share of the talent is coming from overseas for some reason. I guess everyone is going for the brass ring in the U.S. rather than just deciding to play great music. A magnitude of nine . maybe they should change the nine to a ten, on a scale of 1-10 they are a 10 in my book. This is a band at the top of their game positioned to break it big, keep your eye on them.