Veteran New York prog act Unified Past have very quietly crafted seven stellar albums in their few decades of existence, and their latest, Shifting the Equilibrium, sees Grammy award winning vocalist Phil Naro (Billy Sheehan, Brian May, Peter Criss, Lou Gramm, Carmine Appice, and others) joining the band, taking them to soaring new heights and ready to take on the world. If you've loved their brand of muscular, melodic progressive rock, you'll be thrilled over this latest Melodic Revolutions Records release, and those new to the band, well, this is the best play to discover them.
Naro joins a cast that includes band leader & guitarist/keyboard player Stephen Speelman, bass player Dave Michelson (who also plays with Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna's Chief Big Way) and drummer Victor Tassone. Unified Past have absorbed influences from such acts as Rush, Dream Theater, Yes, and Savatage, and deliver a sound that's big on beefy guitar riffs, shimmering atmosphere, and hook laden, emotional vocal passages. Naro has a very powerful voice, and you can instantly feel his presence in the band on the opening cut "Erasure Principle", an aggressive rocker that floats between straight prog and prog-metal, with Phil's 'Jon Anderson-meets-Geddy Lee styled vocals leading the charge. "Smile (In the Face of Adversity)" is a darker, moodier number, with bubbling synths, massive guitar crunch, tricky rhythms, and commanding vocals, the band throwing in just enough complex interplay to keep those serious prog fans hooked in. The more pastoral & symphonic "Etched in Stone" brings acoustic guitars and sumptuous keyboards into the fray, before Speelman tosses in some tasty lead guitar solos and heavier riffs, while the menacing "Peace Remains in This World" is perhaps the 'riffiest' song on the album, complete with some wild guitar/keyboard exchanges that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a late '70s Kansas or Styx album. The band gets to really strut their instrumental might on the wild "Deviation From a Theme (Of Harmonic Origin)", as complex guitar, bass, keyboard, and drum melodies weave around each other, the spacey atmosphere meshing perfectly with the heavier passages, making this a must hear for any fan of Dream Theater. Shifting the Equilibrium closes out with the Yes influenced "Today is the Day", a vibrant, melodic prog gem that shows off Naro's full range, supported nicely by alluring synths and majestic guitar work. It's a fantastic epic to close out this wonderful album.
As good as this album is, the icing on the cake is of course the gorgeous artwork from the always dependable Ed Unitsky, who not only created the artwork for Unified Past's last album Spots but has also worked with notable acts like The Flower Kings, Unitopia, Manning, Starcastle, The Tangent, Laura Casale, and many others. The addition of Phil Naro has really taken this band to the next level, and it's time for the world to realize the talents of this great modern progressive rock group. Highly recommended!
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
1) Erasure Principle
2) Smile (In the Face of Adversity)
3) Etched in Stone
4) Peace Remains in This World
5) Deviation From a Theme (Of Harmonic Origin)
6) Today Is the Day
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