ASSURDO

During some last years my interest in music lays quite far from progressive metal, but 'Assurdo' was a pleasant surprise for me. Yes, you'll find some heavy metal elements in band's music and some metal aesthetics as well, but I would hardly tag this album as release for casual DT fan.

If you will remove 'metal' attributes from the surface (it wouldn't be difficult I believe) you will find the mix of Genesis legacy mixed with more modern psychedelic sound. The ghost of King Diamond classical game using soft/heavy and melancholic/dramatic repetitive contrast changes is all the time somewhere near all album long as well.

Really important components of this release are rhythm interchanges and lot of strings.To finish the brew,add some jazzy arrangements, avant-rock interplays and complex compositions structure. Sound mix is a bit unusual - I like aerial feeling in some moments, but sometime the music sounds too flat.

Album's concept is complex and even ambitious. Not always it is for good - in moments music sounds overloaded or even loosing its way. But in all cases this work is far from repetitive standard metal album,so fans of dready mix of melodic and drastic, neoclassical and jazzy, chaotic and melancholic in one will have nice time listening to it.

My rating (for ambitious project) - 3+.