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April 2024

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March 2024

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February 2024

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January 2024

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eMolecule: The Architect

Progressive Rock/Metal

4.0/5.0

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InsideOut Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 06.02.2023 | Released: 10.02.2023

eMolecule marks the return of the collaboration between two multi-instrumentalist and friends, former Sound of Contact members Simon Collins and Kelly Nordstrom. Under the Sound of Contact moniker they released Dimensionaut to the world. Working together, off and on, Collins and Nordstrom decided to gather for a new project and debut album based on Kelly's demo, eMolecule. And so also the new band name. Their debut album, The Architect, a concept album, hits the streets this week on the InsideOut label.

eMolecule

While The Architect has been disclosed as a concept album, I have now knowledge of the same. Press material and band social media are silent about it. (Although my first suspicion went to the recent Adrian Tchaikovsky novel, Shards Of Earth, which I'm currently reading.) Nevertheless we can speak to the eMolecule's musical approach which, in the larger context, is a mixture of progress rock and metal. But that is an over simplification. Several elements combine: heavy, sometimes bombastic, riffage.

Several elements combine including: sometimes heavy, even bombastic, riffage merge with moments and segues of synths, electronica and programming, piano, symphonic atmospheres. Generally, most arrangements feature the latter group, along with variations in vocal arrangements. Vocals can be twisted between the melodic, spoken, and bit rough. With some songs there's even an under current of rock groove (Prison Planet, The Universal, Beyond Belief). Overall, the eMolecule soundscape reminds something of sci-fi space opera motif like, yet different than, Dire Peril, Thank You Scientist, or an Arjen Lucassen project. In the end, what will convince prog fans is the intrigue and creativity of the arrangements. There may be constant and overarching themes but each song has its own moments of adventure.

Ergo, and most things considered, eMolecule featuring prog vets Simon Collins and Kelly Nordstrom, offers listeners progressive rock steeped in genre tradition yet also offering imaginative twists. Recommended.

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Most things considered, eMolecule featuring prog vets Simon Collins and Kelly Nordstrom, and their debut, offers listeners progressive rock steeped in genre tradition yet also offering imaginative twists. Recommended.

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Three years have passed since Sweden's Cruzh dropped their second long-player, Tropical Thunder, also introducing their new singer, Alex Waghorn. Now the band returns with The Jungle Revolution ... [ Read More ]

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