BEAUTIFUL & MONSTROUS

So, obviously Subsignal is a sort of spin-off band from Sieges Even. I'm hardly familiar with that band but I felt ready to explore this new band who made this sole release (until now). And so far a high average rating so that makes the investigation extra worthwhile.

I can hear where the high ratings come from listening to this album. Subsignal is a high quality band in almost all aspects (instrumental handling, compositions AND vocals). So what can go wrong ? Is this a masterpiece ? Not really in my perception. Despite the quality the whole thing sounds a bit flat and unoriginal. There is no track that really makes me go into raptures or even give me a high enthusiastic feeling. The few songs I ever heard by Sieges Even were with this same outcome to me. It's all very good going towards excellent but that's it.

And it's very noticeable that prog metalband Sieges Even is the predecessor because this album isn't straightforward neo prog by any means. This is a 50-50 case in between so beware in case you're looking for true neo prog. But to be honest Subsignal can't be placed in prog metal either because the rougher parts are scarce. The rating is not really difficult to decide for this time. It's a pretty obvious 4 star case though slightly rounded up as far as I'm concerned (3,8).