Matt Chanway

"What you hear is what you get" was something that a music instructor I had back in like 6th grade always told me, and though I never knew what that meant, it makes sense now. When someone can take on 40 minutes of solid instrumentation that is full of intensity and complexity to the point that vocals would be obsolete, then you know you've got something. Matt Chanway's formula is very strait-forward; keep it fast, and keep it interesting.

One of the key ingredients here is the use of buildups. What might sound somewhat repetitive is actually being adjusted over a small period of time, whether it be change in tempo or pitch, and the end result is usually a skull crushing, tap-driven solo to carry the track out. "Evidence Of The Arcane" makes great use of this, and probably sticks out as my favorite, but really, all of them do this pretty well. Drum crashes and blast beat kicks are all over the record, coming at you in waves of different beats to keep you on your toes. Shifts in time signature are definitely a factor in the guitar work as well, some to the point where the songs almost take on a different mood. The most constant part is the fact that it never softens up, and stays heavy the whole way through, even on some of the slower breaks that appear from time to time. Fusing fast, shredding solos overtop of slower rhythm sections make for some mind blowing licks, showcased very well in "Lucidity". More importantly, it mostly avoids going too over the top with the fretboard, avoiding the Rings Of Saturn like-messes.

Despite that, it can definitely still get overwhelming at times with the constant shifts in time/style, and crazy and fast musical fusion. While I've never been too into modern prog music because of this, it's definitely a good one to break the ice, and requires the correct mood. While being a great release, it definitely becomes an earful at times. Prog fans would eat this up, and if that's you, then you MUST give this a spin.