Richard West - Threshold
9/10
Hourglass - Subconscious
Utah based band, they play a stylish prog metal with rock and fusion incorporations, five well-prepared musicians conformed the band, Brick James, the brain of the band, creates most of the music, great solos, riffs and acoustic harmonies, the vocalist, Cody Walker, touching voice, sings in Broadway, Eric Robertson, the keyboardist, great orchestrations and scales, John Dunston, the drummer, he plays everything in his drums, another complete drummer, and the bassist, Sam Doty, technique and feeling, please check the interview that we made to Brick and John.
Song by song:
The hammer strike, a 17 minutes song, the elegance of the band is very notorious since the beginning; John plays progressive drums, the sounds of the drums, cymbals and percussion are great, he take the drumstick with the close hand and hits the edge of the snare to make a stupendous sound, Brick play heavy chords, the bass is loud, next, a heavier music is come, the keyboards orchestration appears and then Cody, he add his feeling, the high grade of prog is showed along the album, fantastic group work, in this song the spectacle starts at the 8:30 minutes, they play several musical parts with awesome diversity that includes guitar solos, piano solo, fast and powerful drums, aggressive bass, keyboards that makes great sounds, one of these like the marimba; At the 14 minute the song returns at what they play in the beginning, wonderful work! Is amazing that a talented band like Hourglass will come to Chihuahua, Mex. I’ve gone at the most metal events in this city, and there haven’t anything alike, they aren’t far from the Dream Theater level.
Altered state, begins with the bass and drums sounds, followed by guitar harmonies and keys, Cody appears with his original voice, captivating drums with fast hi hat and cymbals, constant tambourine, rapid drums and percussions, I’m imagine this song like a MTV’s “unplugged”, the music is getting alter, principally the drums and bass, an acoustic musical part instead of guitar solo, they make a spectacular work, that’s why John is in our polls.
Mist of darkness, composed by three parts, part 1 mist, is an intro, keys orchestration with cymbals and shine sounds; part 2 washed away, acoustic guitar sound, drums, moving voice, next, they turn to something faster, then, return to the slow music, again appears shine sounds and drums, next, appears a great guitar notes, the distortion appears, this is heavier, strong drums, a very good bass part by Sam, they creates marvelous musical passages, they play everything and then they back to the start of the part, great musical ideas; part 3 silent suffering, start with the continue of the second part, the drums excel with clarity, Cody keep singing, Brick’s great solo, attaches sentiment in his notes, Eric and Sam do the same, captive music, the voice with more sentiment, next, speedy hi hat with wonderful sound of the guitar, these are followed by drums, another great solo by Brick to end the song, intense musical composition.
Thread the needle, guitar followed by drums, keys and bass, then, the voice appears, musical part with keyboard solo, strong bass, heavy song.
Exit wounds, seven parts integrate this song, amazing history, different points of view about the courage and love of a man for his country, check the interview of Hourglass, Brick explains the lyrics of this great song, part 1 farewell, starts with the snare like a war band accompanied by guitar, keys and bass, next appears a melodic guitar, next, Cody explains the beginning of the history, part 2 the soldier, one more time war band snare, but this time with acoustic guitar, bass and keys, vocals appears, the bass sound is loud, next, the music turns heavy, part 3 the unbeliever, wonderful progressive metal, the drums are fantastic, John’s show, the music is getting faster, then slow down and then fast, at the 4:00 minutes the Hourglass metal is to commence, great musicians, suddenly ends the part with a guitar distortion, part 4 daddy’s little girl, captive song, very moving, tears flows, everyone plays and sing with the heart in this song, marvelous work, very sad words, part 5 the believer, acoustic guitar with piano, followed by drums, bass and vocals, Hourglass nice prog rock, part 6 widowed, guitar riffs with keys, drums, bass and vocals, great music, fast and progressive, then turns slow down, appears acoustic guitars, next, a great voice is listened, followed by shine sounds, drums, acoustic harmonies and piano, part 7 the soldier alive, the music is alike at the first part, the farewell of the soldier, piano appears and is followed by voice, shine and drums sounds, the music of the beginning is again, fade out to end the album.
