Tag: osi

I think I’m right in saying that this album was intended to be a Jim Matheos solo album, but with Mike Portnoy. However, with the recruitment of Portnoy’s ex-Dream Theater band mate Kevin Moore, the project took on a whole different vibe. If you have heard Moore’s Chroma Key project, he has a very cool vocal style where he layers his own voice. This style is also used here.

This is a kick-ass record with a very familiar groove and vibe in places, and then there are abrupt left turns that make this a wonderful musical experience. Yup, it’s Prog metal with Matheos providing very heavy riffs and Portnoy doing what he does the best with exceptional grooves and beats. It’s Moore that makes this album superb, as his vocals and melodies are left field. OSI, the track, is quite a heavy beast with a killer riff and groove. When You’re Ready is the complete opposite as Moore’s vocals and keys create a very sinister vibe. Horseshoes And B52’s has this heavy repeating groove that gives way to just a bass pattern and atmospheric keys before it builds back with the addition of drums. Great tune!

Head follows, and again we have this heavy repeating riff and groove with some superb sampled beats and weirdness from Moore. It’s these delicate groovy sections that I really get off on. Hello Helicopter starts with acoustic guitar and a huge Floyd vibe that the song floats along on. Shutdown is over ten minutes of Prog excellence. This track is huge in every way. It builds a very dramatic soundscape with Moore’s vocals having an eerie vibe, with added inclusion of Steven Wilson on bv’s. Dirt From A Holy Place feels like a track that Yes or Genesis would come up with but with a very modern approach and added heavy guitars.

Memory Daydream Lapses is a total electronic fan’s dream. Standby closes out the album and it’s a return to those Floyd vibes. There are three bonus tracks with a crushing cover of Pink Floyd’s Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, Neil Young’s New Mama, and The Thing That Never Was which is over seventeen minutes of prog joy. This is a a wonderful record and is a must have.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

This is the third album from Kevin Moore (ex Dream Theater) on keyboards, and Jim Matheos (Fates Warning) on guitar. The first two albums Moore had Mike Portnoy (his band mate from Dream Theater) on the drums, but this time Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) was on the skins. I’ve always found Moore a bit of an oddity as he shunned DT when success came their way after the Awake album, and he would reappear sporadically with his first solo project Chroma Key with the Dead Air For Radios which I really liked, and then this project. This project is sort of a cross between DT and Dead Air.

The first track, The Escape Artist, has a huge monster of a riff that would put DT to shame and really drives the track along, with Moore’s breathy vocals style over the top. Terminal is almost an electronic track with a cool groove and a simple quiet vocal. The fat huge heavy riffs return with False Start – this a real heavy sounding track. This is the pattern of the album, very heavy riff driven tunes interspersed with more intricate electronic pieces that seem to compliment each other perfectly. My two favourite tracks off the album are Radiologue, which is a groovy amalgamation of both styles, and the delightfully heavy groove of Be The Hero. Superb tracks! I really like Kevin Moore and I wish he would do more things.

9/10 from The Grooveman.