Fright Pig / Barque At The Lune

When one first stumbles on Fright Pig's myspace profile: www.myspace.com/frightpig you're immediately blown away with the quality of the tracks. A quick review of the cleverly written bio will impart the notion to the reader that "Fright Pig" wishes to remain anonymous... almost as if these are seasoned industry pros not wishing to reveal their identity just yet. So what do we have to go on? Well, the music of course - and it stands strong on its own. Particularly "Barque at the Lune" which is a masterfully composed piece paying progressive tribute to a certain bat-eater's legacy. With an inverted guitar riff orchestrated in a way only a true student of prog can accomplish. The piano intro to the song curiously retains its metal identity. The incredibly tight changes and precise rhythmic values stunningly never lose composure and sounds as fresh as a live recording. Do yourself a favor and check out the track. This is by far THEE discovery of the year. These guys need an album full of this material yesterday!

WEB SITE - www.myspace.com/frightpig

Reversal Of Gravity / Scuba Gear

We here at TheProg Files love it when a sense of humor infiltrates the confined structure of a prog piece. This band sees that value, describing the music as "the kind of things that make you pee in your shoes". The track "Scuba Gear" can be heard on their player at www.myspace.com/deadeningofthesenses. The bio there explains that "It could be classified as progressive melodic metal with polyrythms and angular riffs". While that may be an accurate description, and indeed their strongest point, this particular track suffers from a guitar tone that isn't flattering to the piece written. These guys have talent, and it's obvious they take the craft seriously at rehearsal, but they dropped the ball on recording. The vocal melody lacks... well, melody. That's not always a bad thing, but this particular vocal line simply follows the drummer. If one chooses to remove the "studio" hat and just enjoy this track for what it is - then it gets 4 stars. However, the quality of the track and the lack of attention paid to its dynamic potential knocks it down a notch to 3 stars.

WEB SITE - www.myspace.com/deadeningofthesenses