Chromosphere

Hey, this year is getting better and better… whether the return of the progressive all-instrumental wizards to the scene will remain the most memorable event from it, is debatable but one has to admit that the world is decidedly a better place to reside in with these magicians around. I initially thought that the reason for their split in 2011 was because they wanted to pay more attention to the other project they started, The Universe Divide, but no… nothing came out of that camp, save for an EP which actually appeared before the Canvas Solaris saga had dissolved.

Two years later the team is back on the field, but they took their time, working on this “Chromosphere”, a fabulous comeback stint and arguably their finest full-length release. There’s this nostalgic look back at the band’s very roots, the demo/promo/EP stage that is, as the delivery is more aggressive, with quite some time spent on prog-thrash territory. The centrepieces of the album are two gigantic compositions, the 11-min long saga “Extrasolar Biosignature” spearheading this marvelous enterprise, a labyrinthine multi-corner excursion, an immaculately-assembled mosaic of clever sharp rhythmic extrapolations which dance around each other in a courteous orderly manner, the elusive lead segments gliding above the dense rifforamas, the shadow of the guys’ idols Coroner rising high, and not only on the more impetuous faster-paced moments. The other giant, the 13.5-min odyssey “Zero Point Field”, is a more abstract fusion-esque tractate with quiet dreamy passages colliding with the more frequently present lead-driven ones, a patient slow-burning journey which gets aggravated by a dramatic speedy insertion in the second half, but largely this is a monolithic atmospheric take on the all-instrumental progressive metal idea.

The shorter numbers are volatile jumpy excursions “Hidden Sector” not hiding much from the spacey prog-metal arsenal, a ”calm semi-meditative/rougher nervier” juxtaposition, the more aggressive eruption at the end nearly causing a volcano, the mentioned disaster materializing in its fiery grandeur on the rowdy dynamic shredfest “Black Drop Effect”, a restless mood-changer with exquisite melodic lead guitar work. There’s nothing normal on “Renormalization”, either, this one an angry jumpy virtuoso-prone amalgam with more awe-inspiring lead exploits and sudden speedy rushes, the band moshing aggressively at every opportunity, including on the stupendous vortex-like masterpiece “False Vacuum”, an abstract atonal psychedelia which throws quite a bit of music at the dazed listener, the dense staccato riffage letting a couple of hallucinogenic keyboard tunes through, all pacifiers mortified on the intense thrashy skirmish later, the tussle won by the lead guitarist, the man occupying the second half to the point of saturation, thoroughly delighting the audience with his infectious hooks.

Yep, the Canvas Solaris experience is a thoroughly depleting one, even when it comes a decade after the preceding chapter. The magic’s there, the inspiration’s there, the compositional flair’s there… the energy’s there, too, even if not more accentuated on, the band feeling nostalgic about their youth, when thrash and death metal were blended into original complex, occasionally violent melees. This opus here is by no means a total recall of those times, no; in fact, the fan will easily recognize the band from the first few notes of the opening track… but these challenging soundscapes have been served with more bite, more edge and more speed, with this new sense of urgency that only enhances the guys’ staple mazey multi-tentacled delivery. It’s a more absorbing, more meandering album, compared to the preceding “Irradiance” which is a more compact, more concrete offering… it’s like the band really want to spend their time in the studio, to vent out their passion for playing intricately… it’s been a while, their hands have started itching, their minds have started bearing more shreddy and riffy fruit, those crying out for bigger expression. To the fans’ utter delight for sure, as the world really seems like a better place to be when you know that a bunch of musicians will always come to your rescue, whenever you get lost in a barely tolerable musical tedium.