CD review SYNAESTHESIA "Synaesthesia"

(8/10) Actually I don't like bands with names you can't speak out without any mistake. With Synaesthesia it is the same and also slightly different. The band name, which reflects a neurological phenomena, is one of those names which gives you a hard time. But it's different with the music. This gives you a good time.

Synaesthesia is first of all the band of Adam Warne. Inspired by his father's music taste and the study time at the Brit School of Performing Arts and Technology Warne started to become interested in progressive music. The 20 years old guy, a multi-instrumentalist, wrote progressive songs for the debut album which are influenced by bands like Riverside, Muse and Porcupine Tree. Synaesthesia is next to Warne also Ollie Hannifan (g), Sam Higgins (g), Robin Johnson (d) and Peter Episcopo (b). All those guys together created with the debut-album a really nice piece of music.

It starts with the epic 22 minutes opener "Time, tension & intervention". A dense keyboard sound builds the base for this song. But next to that there are also excellent tempo breaks like the faster part in the middle of the song where guitars take over. After this eruption the song takes out the heaviness and the keyboard takes over again for the more relaxed sound elements. "Sacrifice" is a rocking song in which guitars and keyboards fight for the ascendancy. The winner is the song. Warne intuitively creates really great melodies represented in songs like "Epiphany" and "Life's what you make of it". Next to the earlier mentioned bands I also think, that Dream Theater belongs to Synaesthesia's faves. If I listen to the instrumental "Technology killed the kids" I can see the parallels with the prog-metal pioneers.

Resumee: Synaesthesia released an exciting and fresh prog rock album which manages the tightrope walk between complexity and melody. Exciting.

(8/10)

Tracklist:

1. Time, tension & intervention
2. Sacrifice
3. Noumenon
4. Epiphany
5. Good riddance
6. Technology killed the kids
7. Life's what you make of it

Label: GEP Records

Genre: Prog Rock