Whereas their debut was Rush influenced, there's very little of Rush to be heard here (the opening section of "A Fugue State" and parts of "Seven Falls, Eight Rises" would be the exceptions), just intricate progressive rock. Overall Standard Deviation is a mellower affair. I don't want to say a classier affair, but there's an added level of sophistication here, a maturity to the music. Which isn't to suggest that Frames Of Mind was immature. It's just the band's arrangements have a little more elegance about them. While often the music seems sequenced by theme or mood, the album does contain many contrasts, often within particular pieces.

"Degrees Of Freedom" is a lighter, more lilting, mellower track with piano-like synths, Foti's warm bass happily humming along, while Kulju plays gently soaring, singing leads. The mental image is probably the expected one, a bird on the wing, flying casually over the landscape. But then birds often signal freedom, as the ride the thermals. It's not as dreamy as new age, mind you, though if every piece were like this, Electrum would be a Narada or Hearts Of Space artist. They follow this up with the dark, angrier "A Tense Bow...A Moving Target." The quick rhythm and sharp leads underlie the "tense" aspect, as you get a closed in feel. There's some energetic drumming and percussion from Musmanno here as well, often played with a heart-racing rhythm (ah, the moving target aspect). This energy carries over to the next track "The Impudent Piece Of Crockery." If you love guitar rock, this will be your favourite track. Kulju's leads are front and center. Other sections of this piece remind me again (as his playing does) of Craig Chaquico, but there a few moments, the way the guitar shimmers, that Marillion's Steve Rothery came to mind unbidden (okay, him again). This particular guitar tone returns again for "A Fugue State," before giving way to a lazy, sauntering rhythm -- I thought of a dimly lit bar (orange being the color tone) somewhere in Hawai'i -- though of course, this also is a fugue. Emerson will come to mind with the darker organ tones that make their appearance towards the end of the piece.

Angularity -- and by association, King Crimson-ity -- come in with the searing "Apartment Living." This is a heavy track, given sharp edges by the occasional pauses, the fuzzed guitar bursts, and stomping drums and bass. This edge is carried through into the 14-plus minute "Seven Falls, Eight Rises." Echoes of Rush's "YYZ" come to play here, but Electrum mix it up with additional textures - some acoustic guitar-like passages. Rush fans will hear a few other references. Classical elements (which sound familiar to me) develop naturally out of the mix, beginning with a tinkling piano phrase. It becomes something austere, and something one part Rush, one part Dream Theater and maybe one part Symphony X with a dash more of Crimson. Though it's fairly common in the prog genre, you might think that at almost 15 minutes it might get a little dull, but Electrum mix it up enough to keep it interesting. In fact, I didn't know that it was a 15-minute track until I set down to write this review.

Beautiful. Yes, that just about sums it up. Not pretty, as that implies something maybe too cute, too frilly, and too fussy. Beautiful. Elegant. A pleasure to listen to over and over again. The kind of release that the more you listen to it, are drawn in deeper, you find new things -- a synth phrase here, a guitar bit there, etc. Beautiful might also imply some of those very same things I said about pretty, but rest assured it is not. "Apartment Living" would be evidence of that. It's beautiful but it's tough. This is no shrinking violet...

Rating: 5/5