ETHEREAL ARCHITECT

Austin, Texas' ETHEREAL ARCHITECT may very well be a band you're going to hear a lot more about in the coming years. "Dissension" may be a self-released album, but the quality is such that it could easily find a home on any number of melodic/progressive metal labels. It is one of those diamonds in the rough that I infrequently come across when digging through the ever growing stacks of promotional CDs in my basement.

The musicianship is strong, yet never overly showy, and the act's command of melody is first rate. Comparison wise, the bands that come to mind are SUSPYRE (without the orchestral factor) for the vocal patterns and the melody rich progressive nature of the disc, and just a pinch of REDEMPTION for the marrying of arrangement dynamics and outright tunefulness. Vocalist Adam Contreras has a unique, mid-range vocal style that gives added emphasis to the already strong melodies. His knack for nailing the patterns without ever moving into power metal highs is most impressive and a welcome break from the usual progressive metal fair. Though a relatively flat production hurts the guitars and results in somewhat of a muddy low end, the recording is far from unacceptable. David Glass' guitar playing is filled with crunchy riffs and classy leads. His Spanish acoustic guitar jam in the middle of "Negative Two-Thirds" is impressive and a great break in the track. The light keyboard work throughout is well done and accentuates the melodies as well.

The approach is firmly grounded in the metallic and there is a good deal to enjoy from those silky smooth melodies. Not a perfect album, but still a damn good one, "Dissension" is the sound of band that has nowhere to go but up. The follow-up could be a masterpiece.