By: M.J. Brady
nlike the instrumental Confusion CD that is reviewed here at Prognosis, Cyril Achard has adopted a singer this around. The ultra complexity, intriguing time signature mutations, and over the top musicianship remains, and the mid - ranged, powerful vocals of Patrick Peek only embellish what is an already solid CD of great music. In fact it is safe to say that Achard is almost creating a new genre of music here, it has the flavors of so many musical styles blending into a morph of progmetal, progrock, fusion, neo - classical, and still more. The most important factor in the music is Achards keen sense of confounding compostional concepts, he strays from the balls and brawn of traditional progmetal, the predictabilty of neo-classical, the tameness of progrock, and the improvisation of fusion, yet he is encompassing the high points of all these genres. Because of his rare talents as a writer and guitarist, he is able to cross many boundaries few have ever dared, he is one a handful of guitarists that are able to manifest so many facets of the musical realm and synthesize them into his own personal style. It's hard to compare this CD with any one artist, but if you can imagine this blend: Shawn Lane, Symphony X, Dream Theater, Sieges Even(Sophisticated era) all rolled into one, I hope you may be getting some of an idea of what this CD is about hopefully. It is highy technical and melodic together, so it should appeal to a large base of listeners, if any of the artists mentioned in this review are to your liking, this is to be a great discovery for you.
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