SIMPLEXITY

Simplexity is a young Egyptian crossover prog band. Founded in 2006, between Omar El- Deeb and Hatem Ghaleb, the band existed as a duo before solidifying into a full band in 2007. The band existed purely as a composing/live act, before releasing their debut EP, Click to Start, in 2011. As the band's name, a portmanteau of Simplicity and Complexity, suggests, the music is a delicate balance between simpler sections, with more emphasis on emotion and feeling, and the complex sections, with more emphasis on virtuosity and various "complex" musical forms. The music is a wonderful blend of this, full of metallic twangs, ethnic tastes, and accessible hooks, making for a very nice debut EP.

The EP starts with the song "A Lone Wolf's Dying Will," which is a great portrait for the band's sound and for what's to come on the next four tracks of the 25-minute EP. The song fuses many different styles together, ranging from psychedelic rock, metal, symphonic prog, Egyptian ethnic music, and more. The band's compositional style is clean, comprehensive, and concise, with set parts to every song and very little material "out of place" in the music. However, these compositions seem rather uninspired in my ears. As well written as they are, they seem rather generic in some sense. The musicianship is prime, the production clean, and the execution wonderful, but the music's "bravado" seems to be the only detractor of this EP.

Away from the cold nature of the songs, the rest of the EP is wonderful. The four guys are all wonderful musicians, with both the psychedelic flavored songs and the heavier, more technical songs being played with ease. The production is flawless, which is (although not much anymore) rare and very much welcome on a debut. The potential of the band is also exponential, as the first and only Egyptian prog band featured on ProgArchives are sure to contain a number of not only ethnic influences but cultural influences that no other band on PA holds.

In the end, Click to Start, although leaving me cold on some parts, is a great debut from this young Egyptian prog band. Combining more op-oriented rock with Progressive Metal, Symphonic Prog, ethnic tastes, and a dose of Neo-Prog and Psychedelic atmosphere, the EP has all the potential to be a fantastic release ? and I have a feeling the band will reach their full potential soon. Overall the EP is a very nice beginning for PA's only Egyptian prog band, and I will certainly look out for more by this band. 3 stars.