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Event
Electric Skies (1999)
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| Reviewer: lach (96) |
However! Their first album "Electric Skies" is truely one of the most original recordings I have heard in a logn, long time. Singer Dave Deluco has a nice mid-range voice, which is quite unusual for progressive metal. (He can still hit the high notes fine). From the opening track (and possibly Event's longest song at only 6:09) this album hits you with a strange (for want of a better word) tonality. Weird chord changes abound, but it all sounds so musical. Completely un-like the fusion sound of, say, Planet X, Event manage to combine very complex rhythms, harmonies and effects into a wonderful new combination of progressive metal. Perhaps learning more towards rock than metal, most of Event's tracks are in a nice mid-tempo groove. Never reaching towards the power-metal tempo, Event have a really refreshing sound. The drums have a strange 80's sound to them without sounding cheesy, plus guitar and bass sound great. There is quite a few keyboard parts on this CD that really add to the general mood of the band, all done by Michaud once again. And it gets better! Michaud's guitar solos are astounding. With a bit of Vai influence, but a lot of originality, this CD is worth the price alone just for the solo's. The instrumentals "Aimless" and "Full of Stars" are just unbelievable. One of the very surprising things about Event is that they keep their song lengths very short. But they pack in so much material it seems like the songs go for so much longer - equally surprising is how "singalongable" most of the tracks are. |
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Human Condition ()
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| Reviewer: lach (96) |
With a great electronic and simple intro, the opening track of this album really surprised me. The song is damn slow, but great! The drum sound has been majorly beefed up and sounds fantastic - possibly one of the best kits I have heard on a CD in a while. Human Condition continues on from Electric Skies, however singer Deluco has really found the range that he likes, and continues to expand on some great vocals. There's plenty more wierd electronic sounds, and quite a few female vocals, intersperced with the rest of the sounds. Shaun seems to have really gone to town with the post-production on this album, and it really makes each track shine. Often over producing can be a bit of polish-the-turd, but in this example they serve to really enhance each song. Event haven't forgotten their progressive roots either - each track sounds like such a relaxed groove, but listen carefully and you'll find some very strange goings on. Timings, key changes and wierd hamonies abound. I find that it's one of those albums that I listen to, and then go "what the hell was that??", and have to re-listen to it all over again. |
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Scratching the Surface ()
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| Reviewer: lach (96) |
Opening with a very commercial sound, 'Scratching the Surface' had me worried for about ten seconds that Event might have sold out. But after the next ten seconds, my fears were relieved. While this album is a bit more commercial than Event's previous music, it's still a great one. The opening track is a killer, the second is even better. In fact, every song is great on this album. Slightly less 'wierd-chord based' than previous albums, each song is still great, while maintaining the distinct Event sound. Title track "Scratching the Surface" is a great heavy 7/4 rocker, "Siren" has a massive rockin verse, "Into The Fray" is a really great Event ballad. "It Makes Me.. Me" has a couple of really bizarre guitar parts, it took me a while to work out what the hell was going on. It turns out that while the pre-chorus is in D minor, the chorus modulates to F#. Now that's all well and good, but Shaun goes ahead and plays a guitar line from the chorus, in the damn pre-chorus. So while the rest of the band are messing around in D minor, there's a guitar line that is playing G# - A - G# - F#. So while D minor contains the notes D - E - F - G - A - A# - C, the guitar is merrily playing along the 'wrong' notes. It sounds wierd, but it fits. Sort of. It's these things that make Event what they are. (I hope I got all of that right!?) Anyway just buy the album and hear it all for yourself. Event seems to have gone quiet over the past few years. Guitarist Shaun Michaud seems to be teaching at Berklee, and has joined a band named "Mata Hari" - sounds like commercial pop to me. |
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