Control and Resistance

Where to even begin with an album of this stature is questionable. There is so much going on inside of Watchtower's sophomore effort that any prog, thrash, or jazz fusion fan would drool over. The best way to put it is this is one of those albums where every person in the band is a top shelf virtuoistic musician on their respective instrument. This record has it all Holdsworth esque shredding, time signature changes us mortals could never wrap our brains around, and some of most soaring acrobatic vocals ever sung. Last but not least this album has some of the most insane and audible bass playing ever. I know I always comment in my reviews about whether the bass on the record I'm reviewing is up front or buried beneath the guitars but with Control and Resistance the bass on a level playing field with the guitars technicality wise and volume. Control and resistance is also a monumental improvement from their 1985 debut in terms of musicianship and production. The band really took the tech/prog thrash sound they pioneered in 1985 and improved it on all levels with Control and Resistance.

The production/mix here is excellent super crisp, clean, and allows every member to shine and be heard. There isn't much more that can be said about the way this record sounds as its just incredibly clean compared to some of the other thrash recordings at the time. This album was released one year after Sieges Even's insane 1988 debut Life Cycles almost has this exact same sound like it is so close to sounding to Control and Resistance that if you had put Alan Tecchio in Sieges Even you would had thought Life Cycles was a Watchtower record. With that being said I am super happy to have 2 records that sound like this because both albums are just jaw dropping and massively influential to musicians who want to sound a bit more out there if that makes sense. The drum sound on this album is really weird at times especially the fills. I can't even describe the drum tone here but the drum fills have this really weird tonality to them at times.

The songs here are all intricate and unique nothing sounds the same on this record. Control and Resistance will leave a new listener trying to wrap their mind around how people can even play shit like this as its extremely technical almost like the whole record is some super hard math problem in a way. I know a few metalheads personally who don't like brainy metal music like this and most of them are on that black metal shit where it sounds like instruments falling down stairs while the singer attempts to clear his throat at the top and sounds like it was recorded with a potato. To each his own I guess but I really love stuff like Control and Resistance because you hear something you've never heard before in the music even after the one thousandth listen. Music like this makes anyone who plays an instrument inspired to take their technique as far as possible. All of the songs on Control and Resistance are good there is not one dull moment on this entire album and the amount of tempo shifts and different time signatures presented here will rattle your brain.

Alan Tecchio lays down an incredible vocal performance here and in my opinion the best moment of his entire career. Tecchio does wail a bit here sometimes going overboard at times but I feel like he had something to prove going from Hades a more straightforward power thrash act to a highly advanced band like Watchtower. Ron Jarzombek is simply inhuman as he is channeling his inner Allan Holdsworth on this record. The dude can definitely write some of the most thought provoking material and keep the listener enticed the whole way. His solos are really jarring and complex and shift in all different directions with fluid precision. Doug Keyser is an animal on this album his bass playing is some of the most outlandish and progressive shit I've ever heard and he is super audible here. You can't just not hear the bass on this record you don't even have to try to hear it as its that level in volume with the guitar. The drums are wild as hell all as well and Rick Colaluca's playing clicks masterfully with Keyser's bass work putting on a wild roller coaster ride of groove and ridiculous tempo shifts its just mesmerizing to hear them alone let alone the entire band together on this record. It's a shame this was Watchtower's last release in the golden era, a follow up in lets say 1991 or 1992 would have been enthralling to hear.

In conclusion this album is a stellar and highly sophisticated musical masterpiece as most musicians could never achieve this level of songwriting and technical precision. This album still is regularly something I come back to for inspiration when I feel boxed in on the guitar. There is just something about music like this that makes you feel capable of so much more than you can actually do on your instrument and sometimes can open new musical doors on whatever instrument you play. I would recommend something like Control and Resistance to anyone into progressive/technical well thought out music. Nonetheless this album is an astonishing feat that no one since has even come close to replicating with the exception of Sieges Even the year prior setting the template for an album like Control and Resistance. This album is a must hear for any rock or metal fan even if you are not really into complex music this album is too damn good to not hear once in your lifetime.