Search - Spiral Architect :: Sceptic's Universe

4.5 stars. Absolutely insane, yet incredibly interesting

M. B. Link | USA | 01/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A Sceptic's Universe(2000). Spiral Architect's first (and so far) only studio album."WARNING! Spiral Architect goes beyond progressive, exploring the realms of complexity and intensity that pushes the nature of technical metal further. 'A Sceptic's Universe' is not for the fainthearted! It may cause serious damage to your mental health."This excerpt was taken from the sleeve that wraps around the album package. I almost laughed when I first read it because I've seen many warnings for strong language and cursing before on music albums, but never ever one that said that the music would be too complex for the human brain. It's probably a reasonable warning for those who never listen to this type of heavy metal at all. In fact, all you need to do is listen to the 30 second amazon clips to decide whether this is too complex for you or not. I on the other hand, didn't freak out on my first listen, due to the fact that I've previously listened to a lot of progressive rock and metal like Rush, Dream Theater, and such, so I guess it somewhat prepared me for Spiral Architect. But the music will most likely fly over most people's heads. I'd just like to see someone who only listens to either AC/DC or Top 40 radio try to sit here and stomache this. It simply wouldn't happen.So what is Spiral Architect all about? Well, they derive their main influences from the 80s technical metal band Watchtower, who in turn sounds like an incredibly complex version of Queensryche. They show off other proggy jazz influences as well. Imagine the complex instrumental section of the Dream Theater track "Metropolis Pt. 1" as an entire song, then multiply that by a factor of 10, and you'll have some idea of what Spiral Architect sounds like. Originally I was only going to give this album 4 stars because its inaccessibility isn't for everyone. But I soon discovered that it wasn't meant to be for everyone. I could try to make an explanation for the band, but they describe themselves best on their website:"Spiral Architect is about continual development, idealism, and intensity. Spiral Architect is controlled anarchy. The aim is to make music that challenges the listener, as well as pushes the abilities of the musicians and man."So as far as their goal is concerned, they've succeeded at what they set out to accomplish. To create stunningly technical heavy metal music which grabs you by the brain and forces you to pay attention. With nine tracks (one instrumental), clocking in at a total of 44 minutes, the listener is in for one hellova rollercoaster ride.I'm not going to describe each track individually here like I normally would, as it's quite impossible to do. The playing has so much going on at once, with literally tons of random time-change signatures, plus remembering that there's no "verse-chorus" approach to be found anywhere. Upon the first few listens, all eight songs will sound very similar to one another. There's so much depth to the playing that you're never going to be able to memorize the songs. You'll eventually catch on to small parts of them, but never the songs as a whole. I've been listening to this album for nearly a month now, and it still twists my brain into a knot. I still admire it though. If you come here expecting catchy hooks, you may be a bit disappointed. If you were to look up Spiral Architect in a thesaurus book, it's musical antonymn would be AC/DC. In other words, it's anything but predictable.All technicality of the music aside, these are some AMAZING musicians, among the elite in refined musicianship. You've got vocalist/keyboardist Oyvind Haegeland who carries the music with Geoff Tate-esque singing. The keyboarding provides atmospheric, futuristic textures which play a key role in most of the tracks. Steinar Gundersen and Kaj Gornitzka provide the rhythm, lead, and accoustic guitars. Both play with a clean, complex style, with Steinar really showing off in the solos. Asgeir Mickelson works the drumming with great dexterity and precision. If one important thing is to be said, it's that Lars K. Norberg is THE BEST BASS PLAYER I'VE EVER HEARD. Seriously. I haven't heard any bass playing come close to the level that this guy displays. Most bands reduce the bass player to the roll of simply providing a simple low-key texture, but in Spiral Architect, Norberg's bass playing absolutely DOMINATES the music.So now that they've released one carefully planned album, is Spiral Architect ever going to follow up? They lay down the truth on their website: "...we have received lots of mail lately asking if we have broken up or are not going to release a new album. The answer to that is that we are very much alive and will definitely record a new album. However, we still haven't started rehearsing the new material so you'll probably have to wait some more years (you might say we're in no rush...)."Hmm... they're in no rush, oh well. Maybe someday. Overall, if you're really looking for a complex metal album that will challenge you, you know what you're getting yourself into, and you want to be enthralled by stunning musicianship, then A Sceptic's Universe will not disappoint you. Otherwise, the vast array of technicalities that this album displays clearly shows that this is not for everyone, so it's your call. Afterall, the box _did_ warn you.Other albums similar to A Sceptic's Universe:
-'Control & Resistance" by Watchtower
-'Focus' by Cynic
-'Awakening The Guardian' by Fates Warning
-'Operation Mindcrime' by Queensryche"

Good Music, Obvious Influences, Almost Excellent

livelearnlove | Dickson, ACT Australia | 06/24/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This band has quite a bit in common with Watchtower in terms of the guitar and bass 'sound' and arrangements. These guys are probably not as consistently over-the-top as Watchtower, however the opening track and tack five, "Insect" are probably more technical sounding than anything on Watchtower's Control and Resistance. Technicality aside, Spiral Architect's compositions probably have more light and shade than Watchtower.Vocally it is somewhat different story. This vocalist has an ***excellent*** vocal timbre. Again, the influences are obvious; imagine a hybrid between a young Ray Alder and John Arch (both of Fates Warning). ***Despite the excellent vocal quality*** there are big problems here. The vocalist's note selection is lazy and frankly unprogressive. Throughout the album it sounds as though he is mostly singing the root, fifth and occasionally the third. This is very inside the harmony, and gets very monotonous after a while. This sort of thing can also make the songs sound unemotional. Considering the effort the other musicians have put into creating these, at times, intricate arrangements, it just sounds like the vocals have been thrown over the top.The other difficulty I have is with the lyrics and the vocal treatment of them. The lyrics are nothing but pseudo-intellectual garbage about faux-esoteric subject matter. What makes it worse is the clumsy and childish use of the English Language. The way the vocalist treats the lyrics is to use them as an opportunity to sing long sustained notes over the last word of most phrases. Just count the number of times he sings mI-ee-I-ee-Ind or similar. This sort of thing has zero impact on the listener when you do it ad nauseam.I can't wait for the follow up. Hopefully this band will find it own musical voice and progress beyond there obvious influences. The biggest areas requiring improvement are the lyrics and the vocalists phrasing and note selection. Just having an exceptionally good voice is not enough when attempting this sort of music. It is what you do with it that is most important."

A musician's delight

Matt from www.prog.web.com | 08/06/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This has to be the craziest, most unstructured metal I've ever heard - and probably the best bass playing I've ever heard, as well. It is completely unlike anything I've ever listened to before. Time changes abound, constantly changing, music that seems to relentlessly start and stop just to toy with the listener. I'm not sure there is a single toe-tapping moment on this entire cd! The bass work is furious and distinctly audible, accompanied by matching guitar work and unconventional vocal arrangements (that remind me of John Arch's style from early Fates Warning but with a less unique, more pleasant timbre). I've seen people describe this music as "sick", which I think sums things up very well. It's just twisted. It's all over the map, it's chaotic, and yet it still holds on to a thread of traditional, organized song-writing. And somehow it works. Think Fates Warning with even less structure, or Watchtower with cleaner vocals. The cd is only about 45 minutes long, with nine short (3 - 6 min) tracks, which I think was smart on their part. There's no way I would have liked this album as much if it were 70+ minutes in length and filled with 8 and 9 minute songs - it would have just been too much. It's great enough the way it is. Now, I wouldn't want every cd in my collection to be so limitless and insane as this, but it is very refreshing and done very, very well. I can't see any fan of technical metal being without this disc. Kudos to the good folks at the Sensory label, first Clockwork's "Surface Tension", now this!"