INSIDER

Amplifier really are a very good band and well worth the listen - they have great melodies (nice vocals - not those hateful growling vocals that too many metal bands use these days), great effects (very interesting as they are all done on the guitar - though I wish they would do more than they do), and sound quite different than anything else out there. They are compared with Oceansize (great friends apparently), but I feel you should listen to them in their own right and not compare.

I really like this album, and would recommend to those who aren't Prog purists but rather to those who like alternative rock with a Spacey/ proggy feel.

If I was reviewing this in an alternative rock website I would give it 4 stars, the 3 stars is purely in terms of this website. I'm glad there are still in the Psychedelic/ Space rock section - partly because I think too many bands have been taken out of this, and also for those in this category it's always questionable whether it is true/ pure Prog - an argument which is great fun.....

Amplifier are in this unfathomable category

There are a few tracks (particularly in the middle of the album) which are OK/ fairly average - they sound like a kind of punk metal and I hope they don't stay down this path in future albums - Mongrel's Anthem, RIP, Elysian Gold and What is Music? (although this latter track has a nice Spacey start it loses it and doesn't regain it) are all moderate rock songs with a punky feel and I would rate them as 5 or 6 out of 10.

Where Amplifier excel is in their more Spacey tracks where they use more picked rhythms with occasional heavyweight thrashes + good melodies - O Fortuna, Insider, Strange Seas of Thought (although this track could do with being a minute or two shorter - a bit of a surprise statement for someone who loves lengthy tracks) are in this mould and are really good - 8 or 9 out of 10.

Also, they should add in more acousticy tracks with great melodies - the hidden track Scarecrows in the EP Astronaut Dismantles HAL was SUPERB! - Please more like this.

However, the album finishes with a bang! The last two tracks are amazingly good, an dif the whole album consisted of tracks like these then I would be considering 5 stars.

I would highly recommend getting this purely for the last 2 tracks Hymn of the Aten and Map of an Imaginary Place - if this is the future of Amplifier, then I am really excited.

SO, if you are reading - more Scarecrows amd Hymn of the Aten PLEASE!!