DIAGRAMMA

What's unique with this CD isn't the influences from all over; but how these influences are showcased. Classic symphonic rock, dissonant and disharmonic experimental rock slightly similar to King Crimson, harder riff based rock similar to Rush, fusion and industrial rock are all styles of music represented on this release. But rather than having an amalgam of these influences, The Rebel Wheel mostly choose to showcase the elements individually; either by concentrating one of these influences in one particular composition, or by conveying them one after the other in the individual segments of each tune.

This is especially true of the long title track Diagramma, a composition more or less consisting of various parts in different styles put together as a whole. This approach is the major asset as well as the major weakness of this release. The adventurous listener will enjoy this mix, while the more conservative listener will yearn for something a bit more consistant where there's more of a stereotypical evolvement of a tune from start to finish.

All in all a promising album, and it'll be fun to see where this band are heading for their next release.