SPIRAL ARCHITECT "A SCEPTIC'S UNIVERSE"
2000, Sensory
If you were to describe the Mars Volta to someone in a very literal sense, only talking about the good parts and not discussing any of the bullshit... that picture in their mind would probably be pretty good: complex, of course... completely idiosynchratic... and rocking. Right? Well, we can all agree that the Mars Volta definitely is those things -- but somehow they suck. However, if you were to take all those elements and multiply them by INFINITY you'd probably get this album. Don't get me wrong -- this doesn't necessarily sound like the Mars Volta, though it is prog and the singer does go into falsetto wails and there are some odd rhythms and guitar solos. I'd liken this more to a band like Necrophagist: completely over-the-top technicality -- I mean, COMPLETELY; "500 time changes a minute" doesn't really do it justice to describe... thoroughly-composed... a headache-inducing racket... but somehow completely musical coherent and accomplished... with one of the weirdest bass sounds I've ever heard. Basically, it's prog without being too "proggy", it's metal without being too "metally", but everything else about it is taken so over the top that it doesn't even seem like humans could make this kind of music. Amongst the most musically complex and accomplished things I'll ever hear, up there with Richard Woodson's Ellipsis in a pure "what-the-fuck-this-is-INSANE!" mindblowing way. If you're a fan of stuff like Dillinger Escape Plan's "Calculating Infinity" or Behold... the Arctopus or whatever else, you'd probably be into this. It doesn't really sound like those bands... or any band I can really think of... but how else can I describe it to sound appealing? "It goes from 7/4 to 4/4 to 3/4 to 16/4 in 1 second!" Does that work?
Amazing album!!!! You just have to hear it to understand.