PENUMBRA DIFFUSE

American power-trio Canvas Solaris has created one of the most refreshing prog metal works in the last years: "Canvas Solaris". Its refreshing nature is in no small degree due to the multicolored musical spectrum that this most versatile ensemble manages to handle within the album's unity. The fusion of the standardized technical power of prog metal, the magic of jazz-rock, the sheer energy of heavy rock, the ballsy dynamics of current KC, ethnic stuff and electronic psychedelia is well accomplished in an amalgam that gets its solidness beyond the peculiarity of each individual ingredient. Besides the already alluded KC, we can mention Djam Karet, Dream Theater, Cynic, Gordian Knot, 89-95 era Fates Warning and 2000-era Ozric Tentacles as major points of reference for this developed Canvas Solaris. Tracks 1 & 3 show the metallic essence of CS right in a straightforward manner. The band handles effective riffs, challenging chord progressions and complex rhythm patterns almost as if it didn't require any effort at all, using the individual musicians' prowess, and yet, not showing off endless pyrotechnics, always keeping the music well rooted on the basic musical ideas. Perhaps that's the most complicated type of complexity, the complexity that doesn't totally reveal its inherent dexterity. Definitely, 'Panoramic Long-range Vertigo' is an amazingly catchy shock for the listener, be he/she heavy metal-friendly or not. Pay special attention to that brief acoustic guitar-and-percussion ethnic passage that comes out of nowhere, like a thunderbolt of exotism that breaks through the whirlwind. 'Accidents in Mutual Silence' has, in practice, nothing to do with accidents or silence: what it shows is a cleverly ordained sequence of motifs and riffs that feel incredibly loud and exquisite. Between the two comes the first long track, the 11+ minute long 'Horizontal Radiant', which serves as a majestic display of ethereal musical expansions based on synth layers and effective dual guitar chord progressions. The presence of 7/8 metallic interludes allows the band mix jazz-rock and hard prog. Very much in the vein of Djam Karet and Gordian Knot, indeed. 'Vaihayasa' is a most beautiful exercise on world music, more specifically, Muslim folk. The interaction between the two acoustic guitars and the ethnic percussions, augmented with synth and guitar-synth layers and mandolin, is a perfect soundtrack for a walk across the streets of Rabat downtown. This oasis of contemplation and mysterious serenity will provide the listener a useful moment of rest before the massive display of energy and red hot inventiveness that is exhibited in the sequence of tracks 5-7. 'To Fracture' brings much of the spirit of 'Panoramic' and 'Accidents', if only mediated with the syncopated vibrations of ballsy jazz-rock in some strategic sections. This one would be the most accomplished of the album's heavier numbers had it not been for the following track, 'Psychotropic Resonance'. This one is really disturbing, and by that I mean dissonant yet playful - just what a combo of Present and Gordian Knot musicians would play in a jam after listening to Primus records for five hours in a row. CS at their most jaw-dropping! Well, actually, the album as a whole is amazing. The closer is the other long track, the 12+ minute long 'Luminiscence', which portrays an eerier feel than that of 'Horizontal Radiant'. The alternation of softer, denser motifs and heavier ones is effective and solid, yet it feels more robust in comparison. The synth solo (provided by a guest) brings back memories of the old progressive ways in the 70s, while the ethnic motif that emerges by minute 8 brings extra colors. "Penumbra Diffuse" has a paradoxical mission as a musical work: it has been designed to bring some sort of renovation to the prog metal thing, but, from another point of view, you might say that this album defies and transcends the sub- genre instead. In my book, Canvas Solaris has created an authentic 2006 masterpiece.