Various Artists - Schizoid Dimension: A Tribute to King Crimson (1997)
[CD Cleopatra 123]

Originally published in Reels of Dreams Unrolled No. 4, February 7th, 1998
Tribute albums seem to almost always be a disappointment. Whether one wants to hear faithful renditions or total reworkings of their favorite songs, tribute albums by nature are unlikely to really please anyone. The recent batch of tribute albums honoring Yes, Genesis, Rush and Pink Floyd on the Magna Carta label seem to have left an especially bad taste in almost everyone's mouth, so this album may have entered the market with several strikes against it. Let me assure you, however, this album is a little more respectable. After all, it is King Crimson we're talking about here. 

As can be expected, there are some really good tracks on here, and some real stinkers. The best seem come from the more well-known bands. There are two tracks by Brand X. The "west" incarnation of the band (whatever that means) does a nice, but relatively similar rendition of "Red." The "east" incarnation gets a little more daring in their song choice and performance with "Neal and Jack and Me," replacing the intricate guitar parts with percussive keyboard sounds. Controlled Bleeding does a rocking rendition of "Talking Drum," complete with a searing guitar solo. David Cross, ex-Crimson violinist, joins up with his old bandmate John Wetton to create a splendid remake of "Exiles." This is my favorite track on the album. It's quite a bit different from the original in its inclusion of modern keyboards and several blistering, emotional electronic violin solos. This has always been a beautiful song, but Cross' interpretation shows it in a whole new symphonic light which I really enjoy. This track alone is worth the price of the album. The most original interperetation is Astralasia's bizzare techno reworking of "I Talk to the Wind." I can't say I really like this style of music very well, but Astralasia comes up with some of the weirdest and most complicated electronic percussion I have ever heard, thus taking this style to a whole new level..

Unfortunately there are several tracks which suffer badly from muddy, distorted mixes and rather unimaginative interpretation. Among these casualties are Spirits Burning's "Red," and Pressurehaed's "21st Century Schizoid Man," which leaves out the challenging, jazzy section in the middle, leaving nothing but a hard rock guitar riff to which Beavis and Butthead would be perfectly comfortable head-banging.

Somewhere in between are the fairly safe, but well-played "A Sailor's Tale" by Alien Planetscapes and the ultra faithful, lovingly recreated "In the Wake of Poseidon" by Solid Space, complete with Mellotrons and a Greg Lake sound-alike. If you're a pretty big fan of King Crimson you'll probably get some mileage out of this disc. You won't wear it out, but it won't collect as much dust as Tales from Yesterday either. - Scott Hamrick [February 1998]

Click Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info

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Vitchev - Lost in a Fairy Tale (2001)

One of the problems with having a staff that consists of 2 - 3 writers is that we can't shuffle stuff off to some underling more knowledgable or able to better evaluate any given progressive rock sub genre.  As it stands, I'm reviewing the self released debut from Bay Area brothers Hristo and Vladimir Vitchev, who play a style of technical prog-metal that I'm admittedly not particularly attuned to.  Still, Lost in a Fairy Tale was a hell of a lot better than I expected to be.  The guys have a ton of great ideas, and manage to put down some great licks throughout the album.  Although it can get a tad wanky, that's to be expected from this particular style, and could be more of a taste issue than anything.  Vitchev certainly falls into the Dream Theater school, but with a nod towards guitar virtuosos like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani.  Despite the lack of a vocalist, the playing is often extremely lyrical, not simply the barrage of solos that I was expecting (although there's plenty of that as well).  The keyboards are, of course, all digital, but fans of modern prog-metal certainly won't associate that negatively.  Keys often provide an exciting counterpoint to the guitar playing, rather than providing a boring "backdrop", and its clear that the guys are relatively fluent in that department as well.  One problem for me is the drum machine.  It's understandable that finding a drummer into this style of music, and able to meet the technical demand, can be quite difficult, and I suppose the programmed patterns are as good as they can be expected to be.  Still, with the digital keys and the drum machine, everything has a fairly cold, "studio" feel.  Here's to hoping the guys can get a live band together in the near future on the strength of Lost in a Fairy Tale.  On the topic of studio wizardry, the album is extremely well produced sound-wise.  Certainly much better than most self released stuff I've heard.

I could have probably done without another 20 minute suite.  These guys certainly aren't afraid of clichés, but to be fair, neither is any prog metal band, which is part of my problem in the first place.  Still, the "plot" behind the title suite is a direct rip from Rush's "La Villa Strangiato":  an instrumental that moves through various phases of an individual's dream.  Musically, it has some very nice moments, and seems to appropriately convey the various moods they seem to be going for in each sub-section.  Moving on, the next two tracks on here are certainly solid, with "Allergic Reaction" probably having the most memorable themes (despite the atrocious title).  On the other hand,"Sahara 2170", which the liner notes state is "an attempt to bring techno and guitar music together on a Middle Eastern melodic platform" is, expectedly,  a little dicey.  Aside from this however, the majority of the album is quite good for what the guys were going for.  Though certainly not the most original stuff in the world, fans of instrumental prog-metal who don't mind a drum machine would do well to check out Vitchev. Visit Vitchev on the web at www.vitchev.com to order the album or contact the band. - Greg Northrup [June 2001]

Click Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info

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Vintersorg - Cosmic Genesis (2001)

A very cool folk influenced metal album with distinct "proggy" touches from composer/vocalist Vintersorg.  This is good album, and my rating might be a tad harsh, but I think Cosmic Genesis would have had much more effect if it had come out around five years ago.  As it stands, it's one of those albums that follows in the footsteps of previous landmark albums from bands with roots in extreme metal like Amorphis or Tiamat, but isn't quite as good.  Vintersorg utilizes a number of elements that have already proved successful, such as adding vintage keys, strong clean vocals, powerful melodies and excellent song writing to go along with his folk/death metal base.  Because most of this has been done before, it sometimes comes off as cliched, sounding like a more down-beat and doomier mid-period Amorphis.  Vintersorg's clean vocals are for the most part well done, but border on ridiculousness when they attempt to be too dramatic.

"Astral and Arcane" is a great opener, with some celestial melodies and addictive riffs.   The more upbeat "A Dialogue with the Stars" has some intense guitar riffs and a great chorus.  The best songs are probably the ones where Vintersorg sings in his native Swedish, giving that nice exotic effect that many fans of foreign drool with delight.  Also included is a very cool cover of Uriah Heep's "Rainbow Demon", which sounds great in Vintersorg's style and fits in unnoticably in the context of the album.  Another goodie is the finale, "The Enigmatic Spirit", which is sung in all clean vocals and is supporting by an anthemic arrangement.  This is solid modern metal album, but again, I would have liked it more if this had come out around 1994.  As it is there's nothing really new here, but it's a solid pick up for fans of more progressive extreme metal. - Greg Northrup [Feburary 2001]