Zero Hour

Hanging out on The Perpetual Motion Conference can be annoying. Every month or so, a newly released album gets talked about to death, and I've learned from experience that any new album praised to the high heavens on that board (Digital Ruin, for instance) is something I can safely ignore. Not that they're bad or anything, just undistinguished and therefore non-essential.

Zero Hour is the exception to that rule.

"The Towers of Avarice"

  1. "The Towers of Avarice" (7:52)
  2. "The Subterranean" (4:11)
  3. "Stratagem" (8:06)
  4. "Reflections" (3:56)
  5. "Demise and Vestige" (15:47)
  6. "The Ghosts of Dawn" (5:30)

Oh my, it's like the heavens opened up and God spoke to me. Err, maybe not. But this is still a mighty fine bit of highly technical, progressive metal. Perhaps a bit too far on the wanky side, but not as egregious as other technical bands like Spiral Architect. You see, the difference is they took the time to write ACTUAL SONGS, instead of just showing off their musical prowess! Tracks 1-3 are all very good, but tracks 4-6 (or "side two", to use an obsolete crappy vinyl term) are outstanding. Simply put, "Demise and Vestige" is one of the classic progressive songs of all time, metal or no metal, and it's perfectly bookended by "Reflections" and "Ghosts of Dawn". These guys know their shit, and they do it well. If you have to run over your grandmother to get this CD, do it. It's worth it and she had a good life anyway.

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