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Yes, those Canadians
are crazy (in a positive way of course)!
And I'm saying this as a flatter to
a nation that gave birth to some great
personalities of the worldwide rock/metal
scene and offered as masterpieces
in the past. When someone mentions
Canada the first thing that comes
in my mind (and I bet I'm not the
only one) is Rush. I think they are
the main responsible for the deep
roots of progressive rock in this
country. So, I'll consider Spaced
Out as spiritual children of the Canadian
legends (and I think they will not
have a problem with that). The two
bands have many things in common.
At first, they're Canadians and they
are a trio. The band plays instrumental
progressive rock/metal with some references
to Rush but with an approach more
close to jazz/fusion rock. Their music
is extremely complex and technical
and surely not the easiest thing to
put in your pipe and smoke. Experimentations
and improvidence in all its greatness.
"Unstable Matter" seems
chaotic and exaggerating at first
but after careful listening you'll
understand it's well-structured and
organized too. Zappa meets Dream Theater
and King Crimson meet Gordian Knot.
Antoine Fafard, the main responsible
for Spaced Out, gives lessons of inventive
bass play and makes his primary instrument
a star of the show. Martin Maheux
possesses a distinctive but substantial
role behind his drum-kit while Mark
Tremblay doing many amazing things
with his guitar. The biggest flaw
of the album is related with the keyboards'
sound. The addition of synths and
keys is done with the use of computer
and this is too obvious. So, while
in many compositions the keyboards'
sound is OK there are times that they
sound "artificial" and disturbing.
I think this is something that Spaced
Out must look after in their future
releases (with the addition of a professional
keyboard player perhaps?). Besides
that, very few are the negatives that
someone can find in "Unstable
Matter". Spaced Out chose a difficult
path since their music is condemned
to never touch the big masses but
I think that's part of its beauty.
For those ears that do not know of
boundaries and limits...
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