ProgressiveEars Review

Review by: ffroyd
Date: 10/27/2003

I guess I've been going through a little listening slump lately. Much of the newer prog that I've been hearing has left me feeling a little empty. My favorites from the late 90's have started to mellow out a little and their multitude of side projects, solo albums and collaborations have, for the most part, not really impressed me that much recently. However, there have been a number new artists coming along willing to take their places. One such group is Syzygy. Based in Ohio, this trio has an excellent symphonic style combining elements of classic 70's style progressive rock with a great heavy edge.

Allegory of Light begins with the three part title track/suite and a cool synth buildup starts off the first part "M.O.T.H." This is followed by an excellent high-energy ELP-ish section, it's obvious Giunta is heavily influenced by Keith Emerson by his excellent organ tone and playing. The band reminds me a little of early Mastermind at times with a bit sharper focus. Drummer Paul Mihacevich sings on this track. While his vocals aren't terribly strong, they are by no means unlikeable. In the second part of the suite, things lighten up a bit with an acoustically driven "Beggar's Tale". A really nice little piece featuring Carl on vocals and tasty acoustic guitar solo. The dramatic conclusion of the suite comes in "Distant Light", an upbeat symphonic finale that really sounds like nothing else I can think of.

The next two songs form another suite, this one entitled "In The Age Of Mankind". Both "Zinjanthropus" and "Industryopolis" are very dynamic instrumentals with lots of time changes and excellent playing, especially the drums. More Hammond as well! "Industryopolis" is a the weirder of the two combing some wicked tech metal and with cool space-rock bits.

"Forbidden" is a shorter, haunting, acoustic song sung by Carl with some eerie piano atmospheres. The next one is even shorter but brings the tempo back up. "Light Speed" is definitely the rocker on the album with mostly guitars and drums and very little keyboard presence. Lots of nice guitar effects make this 3 minutes of the disc go by quick! This brings us to the grand epic ending piece. "The Journey of Myrrdin" ends the album with a bang, 17 and a half minutes of prog bliss! In this totally over-indulgent piece the band pushes all the right buttons. Everyone kicks it up a notch and this track just burns!

To conclude, I'd say this is one of the best CDs I've heard this year. Sure it's derivative and will probably not appeal to folks who aren't inclined to most of today's modern prog but I think folks that enjoy stuff like Izz, Thieves Kitchen, Glass Hammer, and/or any of the top new prog bands, could really get into Syzygy. This is their second CD, the first was called Cosmos and Chaos. I haven't heard that yet but if it's anywhere near as good as The Allegory of Light, I wanna get it!

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