DEMO 98 - ECLECTIC COLLABORATIONS

The second of two demos made available by this Estonian band through their website, this collection consists of four songs. The overall sound is of tracks which are at or near their final form. By this time, female vocalist Triin Pata had moved on, the band deciding to become an instrumental outfit. Their music is difficult to classify, drawing in prog metal, fusion and post rock. Having evolved from a death metal band, the metal aspects are the most dominant, but there is plenty of melody in this the band's first professional demo.

The opening "Spectotation" is a five minute number which sets off frantically with Dream Theater like metal guitar work. For me, the drums are far too forward in the mix and rather too phonetic, to the point where they are something of a distraction. The absence of any vocals leave the piece feeling proficient but rather empty.

"Science hole" opens with a slightly lighter melody, which alternates with heavy guitar riffing. "Negative pocket" moves further from the metal influences, with suggestions of artists such as JOHN MCLAUGHLIN and CARLOS SANTANA interspersed with more rock orientated themes. "Square circle", the longest track, is a continuation of "Negative pocket" in terms of style. As with all the tracks here, the song is well put together and competently recorded, but ultimately rather dull and directionless. Perhaps the addition of vocals would have provided the stimulus missing from these selections.

In all, a reasonable effort, but it is hard to see the band succeeding based on demos such as this, it is simply too anonymous. The demo is currently available for download in full via the band's official website (linked to via their page on this site).