ZEROESQUE

Instrumental band Zeroesque is the new milleniums answer to Symphonic slam with a heavy guitar/keyboardbased progressive rock full of fusion. Their style is somewhere in the area of Symphonic slam, Deus ex machina, Somnambulist with a healthy dose of Mahavishnu orchestra thrown in. Zeroesque consists of Tim (keyboards) and Shawn (guitars) with the help of some drummer friends and a few special guests. First song kicks off at the speed of light with a heavy guitar and keyboard riff that feels like an intro to the album. The second song is quite the opposite consisting of only piano showing that this band also has the ability to write more relaxing and beautiful music. That said, the rest of the album keeps the tempo up.

Their music is progressive rock for the new millennium, and with that I mean it's fresh, fast and heavy. Most of the songs are very guitarheavy, but never really bordering to metal. There's lot of heavy guitarriffs with an overlaying mooglike keyboardmelody or solo. The more the album moves on the more fusion it gets, some songs are pure fusion with hints of almost avante-gardish Deus ex machina rock. Take the songs Tequila Mockingbird or Maxilla Gorilla for example, songs that fits right in on anything Deus ex machina has done.

Interesting with this band is that they don't only has a lot of cool chops, they have the ability to write interesting songs also. The song Feels like falling is the longest song on the albums and starts off nice and quiet and builds up to more uptempo and complex progressive rock. It's full of great chops with lots of twists and turns with a few fusion elements thrown in. The highlight on the album in my opinion.

This is the young bands debut albums wich shows in the eagerness to show everybody look how we can play, and sure they can play. They're both skilled players but for the next album they should concentrate more on songwriting than fast solos. A song of mostly solos is a tricky thing, only Yngwie gets away with that.

Conclusion: A fine and very enjoyable album. This is probably an embryo of what to come from this band. Fans of the mentioned bands should check this album out. I expect great things in the future here, already waiting for the next album.....