Transcendence (US) for Prog Metal

Mixing Progressive and Power Metal, this outfit had a great overall sound, with a very good vocalist and a Christian lyrical aspect. Some songs are heavy and melodic and some are softer, such as 'No Trace', an amazing ballad with killer melodies and emotions. These guys were purveyors of melodic progressive metal coming at you from cowboy country - Texas. If you thought the Lone Star state was only good for Buddy Holly, ZZ Top, Point Blank and Stevie Ray Vaughan, then think again! Transcendence seem to have been based around a core group of players, but have also seen a few line-up changes too (drummers in the main).

 

'The Meridian Project', though released by Lion Music in 2002, actually dates back to 1999. Such was their perceived potential at the time that they were picked up by Lasse Mattson and his team at Lion Music, and it was widely believed that these guys could go places, and that meant way beyond Texas, or so it was thought. Fusing a sound that's somewhere between Symphony X, Savatage and Iron Maiden, as well as the inclusion of the technical detail of Rush. Vocalist Greg Drew is particularly impressive. If you can imagine a cross between Tracy White (Shotgun Symphony) and Mark Boals, then this is him. A very powerful vocal presence indeed.

 

The Songs:
On the one hand, you get out and out bludgeon, like the opener 'Endless Reign', 'Filtered Lenses' or 'Set Fire To The Sky', then you get something subtle like the moving 'Israel'. Chuck in an 'off the wall' track like 'Random Light', and you know you're dealing with a band with a penchant for the 'different'. Check out the wall to wall guitar on 'Echoes', though it does have a magic keyboard solo by Howser a la Kevin Moore (Dream Theater, Chroma Key) through the middle of it. It's followed by the tempered melodies of 'No Trace'. Then there is the epic 'The Wake', complete with obtuse time changes and some neat keyboard parts.

 

The beginnings.

Kirk Wood and John Von Rosenberg had been in a local heavy outfit which released one CD prior to disbanding due to personal issues. Kirk and John Von decided to trek out again and find an established band in need of a rhythm section. They came across an experimental band called O'Clock in the classifieds and contacted one John Howser. After the tryout, Kirk and John Von decided that they needed to start from scratch and put their own group together. Enter guitarist, Jeff Ford . After one meeting and a push-start of Jeff's car, Kirk and John Von invited Jeff to join the fledgling band. The next goal: finding a singer...
 
After trying out many singers, John Von met Greg Drew. Greg was hosting a Karaoke night and John Von liked what he heard. He invited Greg to come out. The trio showed Greg their song "No Trace." Greg picked up the mike and blew them all away. They knew at that point their search for a singer was over, but something was still missing.
 
Kirk, on a whim, dug up John Howser's number. He contacted him to see if he available. When they gave Howser "Filtered Lenses" to try on for size, they found the missing element. The four members agreed that Howser was what they were looking for to complete their sound and asked him to join the group.
 
The new rehearsal complex, completed in the Summer of 1998, gave way to the recording of their first album - "The Meridian Project." After that Transcendence juggled their time between promotion, tour rehearsal, and the beginnings of the continuation of the adventure...

 

Greg Drew (vocals)
Jeff Ford (guitar)
Kirk Wood (bass)
Derek Edwards (drums)
John Howser (keyboards)

1. Endless Reign
2. Echoes
3. No Trace
4. The Wake
5. The Fall Of Meridian
6. Filtered Lenses
7. Set Fire To The Sky
8. Israel
9. Random Light
10. Alpha
11. Omega

 

Done. I don't know how this error happened, as I am usually very careful with this sort of thing. This thread was originally combined by admin with another Transcendence suggestion by toroddfuglesteg (that band were actually from Canada) because it was thought in the first instance that it was the same band. Both thread titles were changed from how they were initially written during the merging and demerging process, so I'm going to blame them for the error!!