Search - Canvas Solaris :: Sublimation

Tech metal!

meh | 02/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As far as technical metal releases go, Canvas Solaris's debut is a promising and enjoyable album. It has everything that you would want from a tech/jazz metal album: Mind bogglingly good playing, full of odd and shifting time signatures and flawless production so that you can have your mind thoroughly ****ed by the ability to hear each and every note (there are lots of them) they play. The music might sound almost like a metal jam session by some musical virtuosos if it was not so meticulously tight and syncopated in some parts.



But Canvas Solaris go beyond just being your average technical metal band by adding atmospherics, interesting songwriting, and variation to their music. In this way they bear many resemblances to what I would imagine an instrumental Cynic (the favorite band of all three members of Canvas Solaris) sounds like - they have the same spacyness, jazz influences, and amazing musical chops. Songs range from short, mind bogglingly fast assaults of constantly switching riffs, such as the opener "Cosmopolysyndeton", to more drawn out but equally technical crescendos like "Ekstatik Parataxis (The New Measure)" or their two opuses "Sublimation" and "When Solar Winds Collide" (the best two songs on the album in my opinion). They add to these skillful compositions by accentuating them with sections of acoustic guitar playing, keyboards that remind me of a cheesy sci-fi movie (the whole album sort of feels like a trip through space really), and a variety of drums such as tablas and congas, there are more but those are the only two I definitely heard.



If you are a fan of hearing brilliant musicians playing brilliantly but never really straying too far into the realm of self-indulgence then Canvas Solaris are the ones from you. Be warned though, if you do not like the technical metal genre, they are quite unlikely to win you over."

Simply the best

Philip D. Odonnell | Tacoma, WA. | 12/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I may be a little biased since I have been friends with Hunter, the drummer, for 10+ years, but regardless, this is simply some of the most progressive, brilliant, and innovative music out there. period. You don't neccessarily have to be a diehard fan of metal to enjoy Canvas, as their musical influences are absolutely all over the place. If you are even remotely a fan of prog/metal you need this album. If you are merely a fan of great music, then this is also a must have. Expect more and more great things from these guys."

Absolutely phenomenal CD

B. Turner | Columbus, OH | 12/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Being a fan of such bands as Dream Theater, Andromeda, and Tool, I naturally spend a good deal of time trying to find other bands in their styles, and with their level of musicianship. One such band is Canvas Solaris, whose second album is quite honestly mind-blowing. I would listen to it over and over again, but listening even once gives my neurons too strenuous a workout to risk listening more than once a day. The level of complexity on this album is really refreshing, but each song has a cohesiveness that keeps it from just being a senseless meander through a prog-metal wasteland. There is also a good balance between heavier, distorted passages and softer, acoustic sections. Definitely the best album I've bought this year."