ABSOLUTION

Bought this album yesterday on my friend's (also bandmate) advice and listened to it twice, and all I can say is Thank You to my good friend Richard. The fact that this band is listed in ProgArchives surprises me a bit, but when bands like Radiohead and Anathema make it onto this site, I should not surprised.

The only way I can describe their sound (for Absolution at least) is as follows : à la Radiohead (The Bends / OK Computer period) but with more guts, more rock, less psychedelic, a bit more straighforward and a bit less experimental. Compelling, to say the least.

Singer Bellamy sounds a lot like Radiohead's Thom Yorke, only better in my opinion. His melodies send shivers down my spine in every song, and he is really intense. His guitar and piano playing are inspired, and his songwriting skills have nothing to envy to anyone out there.

The rythm section, with Chris Wolstenholme on bass and back vocals and Dominic Howard on drums is a solid team, more on the reliable and creative side than on the technical side. They have good chemistry and are the perfect base upon which Matthew Bellamy can evolve.

They are the modern day proof that trios make more than excellent bands (Rush, The Police, The Tea Party, etc...). Undiluted, powerful, they sound as one.

Two spins don't allow me to call this album a masterpiece, but my breath was taken away by the intensity of this album. A few weeks more, and this album would have had five star rating, courtesy of little me.