BILATERAL

King Crimson, Dream Theater, Pain Of Salvation, The Mars Volta, Faith No More, Devin Townsend, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Post Rock, Tech/Extreme, Metal, Jazz, Experimental, heavy rock, etc... How can you fit everything that influenced you in nearly an hour? And be genuine, something new? And keep a solid song structure? And really prove that you are an exceptional musician with bright future? And deliver a weird, multi-layered but most of all progressive album? And in the future your name will be mentioned as an influence, in a list like the above? And ... and .. and ...

Well say no more, these guys from Norway did it. You get polyrhythms (lots of that, trust me), melodies, growls, smooth parts, heaviness, craziness. Each track is in a different category but the good thing is that all have the bands signature. After the first spin you will wonder "What was that?". A couple more and you will be hooked, fiddling on the details of each song.

All the reviews mention the great work of the band's vocalist. I can't argue with that, it is an astonishing performance. Apart from that I can only add that I am in awe of the rhythm section. Impressive work!

In the search of Album of Year 2011 this one takes a different approach. The balance of avant-guarde / mainstream music in this is pure gold and this is something that we need in prog. So, for this reason only, 5 stars and my respect.