UNIVERSE

When Derek Sherinian was leaving Dream Theater he said that his new band will be the "sickest" musical project ever created. He gathered some of the most incredible playing musicians that are walking on Earth and formed Planet X. With virtuosos like Tony MacAlpine one guitar, Virgil Donati on drums (he is called "The Thunder From Down Under" :)) and Tom Kennedy on bass as a guest, he recorded the first output by his band named "Universe".

The album starts with "Clonus". When I heard this track for the first time it blew my head of through the window. The heaviness of this tune and the whole recording as well is overwhelming. But well, that's the major problem: there isn't actual much variety through the record. Most of the songs have the same basic sound. We are attacked by heavy riffs one after another and after some time you can't even recognize them. There is only one small beautiful middle-section in the "King Of The Universe" and some slow down in the "Poods Of Trance", but that's all. Because of that some songs on "Universe" become boring, predictable and repetitive. Come on guys, sometimes the listener wants to rest from instant rocking.

This supposed to be an fusion-metal release. To me it's more metal then fusion, so probably that's the reason I'm not fully pleased while listening to this recording. If you're more a prog-metal fan this CD will certainly appeal to you. If not, head for "MoonBabies". It's a much more fusion oriented, adventurous and better CD.