Seeing a band describe themselves as “Progressive Metal” makes me curious yet apprehensive. I love bands that try to think outside the box, wave the middle finger at musical confinements and expand the limits of musical genres, which, by definition is progressing. Unfortunately, though, a lot of bands think that being “progressive” means that the songs require a lot of odd-timed syncopated riffs, lots of shredding solos and extremely long instrumental sections that are just put in the song so the musicians can show off. Essentially, these bands sound like the retarded children of DREAM THEATER and SYMPHONY X, completely missing the point and turning every song into a show of skill.

There is another style, if you will, of Progressive Metal popping up lately, where the instrumental wankery is kept to a minimal, and where the band opts to show their skill in more subtle ways, with only brief moments of “wow that’s an insane solo!”, and the focus being more on the song as a whole. 

SILENT LAPSE was a five piece (four piece now, as their singer left) out of Michigan that fits into the latter category of Progressive Metal, with the band playing very accessible songs with a Proggy twist to them. The guitar work is solid and can hold its own, finding the right balance between melody and heavy (think mid-paced EVERGREY. Kinda), but what’s impressive is how the riffs are both extremely catchy, yet it never sounds anything remotely close to being mindless and dumbed down. Despite the general simplicity of what is happening in the song, the songs themselves are very well constructed when it comes to the tension of the melodies, and the songs are unpredictable in small ways. Flashy displays are present on this record in small spurts, and their appearance is always welcome because they FIT THE SONG, instead of being random musical tangents that the musicians are far too eager to play.

The overall mood of the album is pretty morose, partly due to the brooding nature of the melodies that are being played, and the guitar tone is pretty gloomy, but what is the highlight of this record is the vocalist’s performance. It’s very mournful, but still shows a glimmer of hope, which gives the singing some soul. It’s unfortunate that the man left the band, because he is an incredible talent.

I’m loving this. The groove of the songs is aggressive, the songs in and of themselves are very catchy, the melodies and riffs are very well composed, the songs structures are unpredictable (in a good way), and the singing is great.

I hate to use a clichéd term, but this is thinking man’s Metal.

Check this out. It is quite awesome.

(Online August 28, 2009)