Melodic, approachable, hard-edged progressive rock with one foot in the metal
camp and the other in the third-wave of progressive rock. Imagine a confluence
of Dream Theater and early Spock's Beard - and yes, The Third Ending's
self-titled debut displays musicianship that matches those two grand-daddies of
progressive music. And if you're familiar with their label-mates Cryptic Vision,
you'll have an idea of what to expect.
The Third Ending is an Australian quartet recently signed by
Prog Rock Records, and if there's
any justice in the music industry, they ought to achieve significant success in
the criminally-small third wave prog-rock and prog-metal worlds.
The Third Ending is melodic and approachable, and definitely
progressive - albeit with a small 'p'. There are metallic sections, but several
acoustic, and piano / keyboard lines lend it an almost folksy tone in parts. Yet
"Cold Light of Day" is spacey ... so there's a good mix of styles, yet with its
intelligent songwriting it hangs together rather well. Several tracks fade into
one another enhancing its cohesive qualities, and tracks 6 through 11 form a
6-part piece that runs through a constantly developing series of melodies and
tempos, yielding a solid 30-minute epic .
On several tracks, the vocals sound like James LaBrie's softer moments.
Listen to "Digital Sunrise", and especially to "Falling", "Part V" and parts of
"Coming Around" - and you'll swear you're listening to a Mullmuzzler or a
long-lost Dream Theater piece. "Tungsten Blues" on the other hand has some
wonderfully melodic moments, sandwiched by reasonably heavy metallic sections.
"Can You Hear Me?" features elegant acoustic-styled guitar work and soft keys
over a simple but effective piano line. Quite pretty. And opening track
"Eleven" is a block of solid prog, bookended by pleasing acoustic guitar work.
Add interesting cover art by the band's drummer, lyrics that clearly have a
purpose - although the meaning isn't always obvious, and pretty good production,
and you have a body of work that deserves to be heard.
Great debut.
Track Listing:
1. Eleven
2. Back Home
3. Tungsten Blues
4. Can You Hear Me?
5. Fingerprints
6. Digital Sunrise
7. Cold Light of Day
8. Falling
9. Part V
10. Coming Around
11. Fingerprints (reprise)
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
