The Pittsburgh-based fusion-rock amalgamut unleashes nine more instrumentals that trumpet inspirational watermarks. Guitarist & founder Rob Pérez is joined again by keyboardist Rob Klan and drummer Rick Mals; bass duties fall back from Pérez to his longtime chum, Eric Fuller, who was unable to participate on Visual Cliff's debut, Lyrics For The Living. The sophomore jinx has been jettisoned like yesterday's refuse, and this album is every bit as powerful as Lyrics — the great variance in delivery and tempo should rank highly with fans of instrumental prog & prog-metal, Chris Poland, Marcel Coenen, Fates Warning, Eric Johnson, and others of their ilk.
Key To Eternity opens with a pair of compositions that form a small suite under the title of "The Return" — "Part 1: Revealed" is a charming, delicate instrumental characterized by the soft string, piano & brass patches of the Alesis synthesizers in employ, and Perez's acoustic guitar. One immediate drawback is that Mals' Roland V-drums often — but not always — sound as though rhythm tracks are being supplied by hi-quality drum samples — well, they are, technically. Nevertheless, as with recent King Crimson & related ProjeKct outings, the earthy, resonant punch of an acoustic drumkit is often missed for the static tonalities of the V-drums. As Emeril would say, the heat is turned up a notch for the metalloid fusion of "Part 2: Battle Soul"; Perez's hybridized Morse~Matheos attack substitutes the once-tranquil mood for one of urgency. In this uptempo counterpart with a dynamic tenfold that of its predecessor, Mals' drumming certainly avoids any rhythmic trappings of the canned variety.
The overload gauges cool down for something a little more subtle in the title track. A quick sample of nature and chiffy flute opens the door to this more acoustic venture, but the guitar soloing — especially around the 4-˝ minute mark — really makes this piece tick. Another inconsistency becomes evident in the ambience levels, which give the playing an ethereal, phantasmal tinting; the synths and bass guitar seem to suffer the most, but this is rectified, in part, in later tracks. Interestingly, "Romans 10," Tr. 4, seems to mirror the fourth cut ("Leap Of Faith") from the previous album in its chordal attack — the main arpeggiations pay tribute to Alex Lifeson, circa Rush's Hold Your Fire (a good thing). Ten years from now, when Visual Cliff has a few more albums out and a restrospective set is overdue, these two tracks ought to be paired off similarly to "The Return."
The band steps back for two minutes to let Klan execute the "Palisades" interlude's minor-key motif with legato piano and complementary synthbrass & strings. Then comes "Living Proof" and Fuller's mondo bass line, growling and rumbling throughout the mix, a presence that proves confrontational to even the lead guitar line. Mals rocks out quite a bit, pulling off some nice Peartisms. Despite its crunchy bridges, "Living Proof" has a pleasantly ephemeral quality that a few of the other tracks partially lack — not guilty by suspicion is the seventh track, "At Mospheric Reside." Given that the number VII is the number of perfection, this cut has a reputation to face up to — it's the most overtly metal, but never draws near the shores of thankless wankery. The second half, with clean electric soloing over church organ, is superb. "Angelic Shield" veils itself as a more relaxed piece, but only the first two minutes are wrapped in that cushiony warmth Pat Metheny spews in quarts — otherwise, it's "At Mospheric Reside, Part Deux." "The Message" caps off this adventure with briskly-strummed acoustic guitar and a pristine solo that smacks of an electrified nylon-string guitar. Rob Klan also (momentarily) breaks the surface tension with a nice square-wave patch that takes advantage of alt-channel panning (hopefully we'll hear a lot more of Klan on the next album).
The Key To Eternity will officially unlock its musical mystery in December —mastering engineer & four-time Grammy winner Bob Katz has given the album a fresh polish — and online orders aren't without perks. This baby rocks!
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