Track Listing
1. ...And the devil cried 2. Halo of thorns 3. Another prophet's song 4. Successor 5. In this place 6. I remember 7. Sleeping dogs 8. I of the storm 9. A psychotic waltz 10. Only in a dream 11. Spiral tower 12. Strange 13. Nothing Year: 1990 Label: Bullet Proof - Official Site |
Psychotic Waltz - 'A social grace' - By C. Diamantis
The debut album from Psychotic Waltz came as a shock to the unsuspecting metal scene. At that time progressive metal was a term rarely used and mostly applied to bands that played extremely technical music. In the passage of time, Psychotic Waltz earned the name of a progressive metal band but a band that was unlike any other in that particular genre. In this album we have the gathering of five talented musicians whose only common trait was the paranoid feeling they gave to the music they wrote. When someone hears the term progressive, he starts imagining 15-minute songs with a lot of solos and complicated melodies. Well, that�s not the case here, so those who were searching for another Dream Theater clone better continue their search. The length of the songs is normal, there are solos of course but not musical masturbations, the riffing is extraordinarily good and the rhythm section accompanies the guitars perfectly. The first thing that comes to mind when listening this album is �psychedelic�. Not so much as a characteristic of the music itself, but rather of the atmosphere this album creates. The, most of the times, abstract lyrics encourage these kinds of feelings and the result is a totally unique album. The people that are mostly responsible for this feeling are guitarists Dan Rock and Brian McAlpine, whose melodies and riffs are the elements on which the sound of the band is based, and the vocalist Buddy Lackey, whose performance gives a whole new dimension to the songs. These three are responsible for almost all the compositions in the album. The songs are sometimes melodic, sometimes heavier but always very well structured and faithful to the spirit of the band. If I had to choose just one song from the record as a favourite, my choice would be the only song Lackey wrote alone, �I Remember�. This is, without any hint of exaggeration, probably the best song this band has ever produced. It�s dedicated to the mentor of Lackey, Jethro Tull�s vocalist Ian Anderson, and rightly so. The singing of Lackey, his flute and the emotions that this song provokes are an experience everyone needs to live at least once in their life. This album is the beginning of one of the most important progressive metal band of the last, and every other, decade. Away from the usual progressive norms, Psychotic Waltz are creating music that is destined to become classic. It�s too bad that they never managed to leave the underground status and reach a wider audience. They only produced four albums, but all four of them are masterpieces. After this album the band will follow a more personal and esoteric path, but that psychotic feeling will always stay the same. Metal Obsessive Grade: 90% |