If any of you are familiar with the Prog metal band Haken, then you will have undoubtedly heard the crunching riffs and tone of guitar player Charlie Griffith: this is his first solo album. It is a killer record!
The opening intro of the beautiful Prehistoric Prelude leads the listener into a false sense of serenity as next track Arctic Cemetery rips in with some serious low end crunch and groove. I love the AI sounding vocals, very cool. My first thoughts are that I’m listening to a long lost Dream Theater record, especially the instrumental pieces as the feel is very much Portnoy era DT. The low end tones and growls blow that right away though. Killer riifage!
For those of you who love your odd time signatures you will be drooling at Luminous Beings, a delightfully twisted little tune that takes the listener across the whole Prog spectrum. It’s favourite track time next with In Alluvium. This track is HUGE! At over eight minutes, the listener is transported to a musical heaven. Close your eyes and take it in. The vocals are superb as is the main melody, killer guitar, and wicked grooves that delight the ears. I loose faith with the whole Prog genre sometimes as a lot of modern Prog leaves me empty but this is stunning!
Digging Deeper is a monster slow build track adding layers and tones throughout, reminding of early eighties Genesis. The title track is a guitar lover’s dream. From heavy, monster, deep riffage to superb layered melodies with dual guitar pieces, and some killer leads. All hail the riff! Crawl Walk Run takes the award for the most total metal track on the record. Freakin’ awesome speed riffing and killer drum and grooves.
Dear Charlie Griffiths, ta very much for delivering a banger.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
