FIVE OF THE EYES

This very cool song is a single taken from Five of the Eyes' first full-length album, which I liked a lot and wanted to listen after I saw the band on the recently celebrated ProgtoberFest. What this band shares is heavy prog with a clear alt rock sound that in moments might remind you of The Mars Volta, but with a cleaner sound.

"Mirrors" is a great choice for a single, it is soft and disarming, but later heavy and more powerful, here I love the great use of neverending guitars and those heartfelt vocals. It might be the catchiest track off the album, with a chorus that you will surely learn and sing. I believe this could nicely work as an introductory track for those who are still not familiar with this great band.

As some of my readers know, I normally rate under-20-minute-releases with two stars, unless it is the song or EP or release of the year or my life. If interested, you can read my review of their "The Venus Transit" here in Progarchives.

I wanted to write a review of this album after watching Five of the Eyes performance at ProgtoberFest, because they did a great job, spreading a lot of energy and giving us a cool example of new prog / alt rock that cant' be missed by fans of fresh heavy sounds. These guys from Portland had already released a couple of EPs, but this 2017 their first full-length baby saw the light. Entitled "The Venus Transit", here we can spend 41 cool minutes divided in 9 short (4-5 minutes) but powerful tracks.

They chose "Atmosphere" as opener, and man, that song really brings that powerful atmosphere that will remind you of The Mars Volta (due to the music and the vocals), but without the annoying sound of Bixler and the pretentiousness of Rodríguez. Five of the Eyes bring great guitar stuff and an amazing work of the drummer. "Wasteland" continues with those heavy rhythms, so you cannot take a deep breath, you just have to leave the music taking you to its realm. In this track they kind of remind me of Jane's Addiction in one side, and of Iron Maiden on the other side.

"Mirrors" is their single from this album. A softer track with once again excellent guitars and a heartfelt voice; it is much easier to dig than the previous tracks; while the seconds pass it becomes a bit heavier but never thaaat heavy. A very cool and -why not- catchy track. The bass work on "Space is" caught my attention since the first listen. The band has managed to equal the weight of all the instruments so in the end there is a unit and not 5 isolated units. "Passenger" is another soft track that has a smooth keyboard background and a melancholic feeling. The first three minutes have the same spirit but then it makes a change and the rhythm becomes a bit more tasty, it might make you want to shake your body; and the final 30 seconds are heavier and chaotic.

"Lust to Dust" might have been considered as another single track, it is pretty cool and accurate for an introduction to Five of the Eyes. It shows their proggy but alternative style at its best, I think. It includes a wonderful guitar solo in the last part. Above I mentioned the band has a balance, but not only the musicians and instruments, but the tracks overall, I mean, one can have favorite songs but all of them are in the same league, equally good, there are no weak tracks here. I am saying this because at first "Oblivion" was my least favorite, but man, it has changed, the more I listen to it, the more I like it.

It is funny but right now, "Monsoon" is my least favorite track here (tough call, in fact), but I do like it, of course. I like its cadence, how it brings peace and introspection and how it reflects the band's quality at their softest passages. The final song is excellent and it brings again that Mars Volt-esque feeling, heavy prog with an alt rock essence, contrasted but united, giving a wonderful result.

Congrats to the band, they've released a solid debut full-length. Enjoy it!