PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
September Code deliver a stunning album of thought provoking, empowering and simply divine music.
To start with I must confess to not having had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with the music of September Code before receiving this album to review. In a rather selfish way, I feel cheated, a feeling of opportunities lost, not being able to have followed the bands ten year career until now. Still, we are here, in the present and able to unravel and marvel at, what in my opinion, is one of the best albums I’ve heard in years, of any genre.
The band started out in their native Greece in 2002 and have one other album in the locker, ’2 Smiles Ago’ which saw the light of day in 2006, so I guess we can say that the band are not exactly prolific in their output. 2009 saw a change in vocal duties, with Dim Koskinas joining the band, Dim also contributes to the guitar duties as well by the way.
What immediately strikes you when listening to ’Remembering Mirrors’ is the depth of atmospheric and emotional feeling that pervades through the air, a truly heady mix of conceptual and progressive rock that invades and cocoons the soul with its warmth and beauty. Albums with this amount of musical excellence are indeed rare but this really does hit the spot.
Opening track ’Humanize’ is actually quite a radio friendly kind of song, with a great catchy chorus that starts things off rather nicely. ’B4U’ is a much more technical track, building from slow beginnings to soaring heights, with Dims voice ranging from Michael Crawford, Phantom Of The Opera touches to full blown, lung bursting verses.
The album boasts so much musical variety it made me want to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t having some kind of album reviewers dream. ’Beautiful Sin’, mesmeric with its twists and turns and captivating acoustic guitar. ’Ordinary Orbit’ a track that I simply can not put to bed or get out of my head, so simple in many ways in its construction but so so powerful because of it. ’There’, boasting an almost astral feel with the keyboard work courtesy of Renos Miliaris. ’Sub Care’ with its Monastic vocal delivery is just mind blowing, the list goes on and on.
Production wise as well, the album is faultless, the final mixing having been carried out by Ted Jensen of Madonna and Nickelback fame, which, of course adds immensely to the finished article but I go back again to the quality and diversity of the song writing and performance on show and in the end that surely is what this record will rightly be remembered for. Songs such as the title track, with the addition of female vocals by the wonderfully talented Christianna of Elysion is musical story telling at its best. ‘Echovirus’, perhaps the heaviest track on the album, whilst still maintaining the Prog vibe is again astounding stuff. ‘Bass’ is exactly what the title says, a 1.14 minute demonstration of how to make a bass guitar speak rather than be played.
I honestly can not recommend this album highly enough to all people who like inspiring and atmospheric progressive Rock, a true masterpiece.
RATING 10/10.
Track Listing;
1. Humanize.
2. B4U.
3. Less Than A Moment.
4. Beautiful Sin.
5. Ordinary Orbit.
6. War.
7. There.
8. Sub Care.
9. Remembering Mirrors.
10. D Day.
11. Echovirus.
12. Bass.
13. XE Cute 2.
14. Airth.
September Code are;
Dim Koskinas – Vocals and Guitar.
Sotiris Pomonis – Guitars.
Theo Botinis – Bass.
John Dimoulas – Drums.
Renos Miliaris – Keyboards and Piano.
Out now via http://www.theleaders.eu/
http://www.facebook.com/septembercode?ref=ts&fref=ts
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnWT9LaEM_Q&w=560&h=315]
