• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

May 2025

• The Flower Kings: Love
• Maestrick : Espresso Della Vita: Lunare

March 2025

• W.E.T.: Apex
• Alliance: Before Our Eyes
• Ginevra: Beyond Tomorrow
• Phil X & The Drills:
  Pow! Right In The Kisser
• IQ: Dominion
• Heart Line: Falling Heaven
• Gotthard: Stereo Crush
• Defender: Dying To Live
• Streetlight: Night Vision

February 2025

• Robin McAuley: Soulbound
• Perfect Plan: Heart Of A Lion
• Craig Brooks: Desolation Freeway
• Mantric Momentum: Alienized
• Pattern-Seeking Animals: Friend Of All Creatures
• Crazy Lixx: Thrill Of The Bite
• Ginger Evil: The Way It Burns
• Dream Theater: Parasomnia
• Tyran: Tyran's Oath
• Saber: Lost In Flames

January 2025

• Wildness: Avenger
• The Ferrymen: Iron Will
• Labyrinth: In The Vanishing Echoes Of Goodbye
• Bonfire: Higher Ground
• The Big Deal: Electrified
• Landfall: Wide Open Sky

December 2024

• After Lapse: Pathways
• Illusion Force: Halfana
• Powell-Payne: Voilá

November 2024

• Sunstorm: Restless Fight
• Storace: Crossfire
• Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
• Lionville: Supernatural
• Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
• Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
• Lonerider: Down In The Dust
• Seventh Crystal: Entity
• Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
• Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
• Impellitteri: War Machine
• Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter

[ More Music Reviews ]

Spiral: Our Final Days on Bellicus Prime

Progressive/Space Rock

2.5/5.0

Website Facebook Twitter YouTube
Unsigned / Self-released
Words by Craig Hartranft,  08.05.2014

New Mexico's Spiral, essentially an Internet based who digitally distributes their music, returns with another album of their atmospheric combination of space and prog rock, Our Final Days on Bellicus Prime. Let's cut to the chase and give you what you need to know.

Spiral: socks and shoes.

Of the five songs here, you really only need to listen to two. The opener doesn't really start for better than a minute. It mostly consists of light guitar, some bass, and drum cymbals. I think there may be somebody speaking under this, but it's hard to tell. Also, you can toss Photographs and Time Beast out the door. Both have these strange horrible vocals. They're close to death vocals, yet have this nasty, scratchy, undecipherable sound like somebody chewing glass and nails heard through distant AM radio station. I tried to enjoy the music in both, but it was for naught. Better in the former than the latter.

This leaves us the Our Final Days on Bellicus Prime and One Way Trip to Solasoma, the two longest pieces, clocking in at just over 14 minutes each. And it's basically more of Spiral's trademark swirling and atmospheric space rock. The former has a nice bass groove and trippy guitar solo. It also has some of those same shitty vocals at the end. I wanted to say that One Way Trip to Solasoma was more diverse and interesting, but not really. It's quiet and reserved space rock that merely lilts and limps along putting you to sleep before you get to the interesting guitar solo at the end. Perhaps there's a fourth song that you can toss. I recall enjoying my last experience with Spiral, Mind Trip in A Minor. But Our Final Days on Bellicus Prime is a disappointment.

Spiral - Our Final Days on Bellicus Prime

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

I recall enjoying my last experience with Spiral, Mind Trip in A Minor. But Our Final Days on Bellicus Prime is a disappointment.

Alphabetical Index

Here's a fun fact about Swiss legends, Gotthard: their last 16 releases, excepting their debut album, went to number one in their home country, making them one of Switzerland's most successful acts and ... [ Read More ]