: : Review : :
This third release by Event
finds them once again morphing their sound into something “else”.
 So
much so that I had to go get out their first two releases to remind myself what they
had sounded like previously.
Their first CD, Electric
Skies, released in 1998 saw a young band from Boston solidly entrenched with
patience and enthusiasm in the traditional progressive metal scene. Great chops,
strong rhythm section, excellent singer. Imagine Dream Theater without the obvious
keyboards.
Then in 2001, Event released
Human Condition, which first saw them seriously seeking their own sound, and first
alerted the world that they were no common prog metal band. We first hear the
experimentation and the more groove-laden sound of something much more than the
chugga chugga boom boom of “traditional" prog metal.
Thus we arrive in 2003 and
the release of Scratching At The Surface. This CD is really light years from
Electric Skies and a logical progressive step from Human Condition. These guys seem
to have found a sound that blends the more common place sounds of progressive metal
and the current sound of modern rock.
“Scratching At The Surface”
is no less then a musical revolution, an upheaval at what you might expect from a
band entrenched in the American prog traditions of Dream Theater, Fates Warning and
Queensryche.
While these guys have
succeeded in creating a sound clearly their own, you just can’t help but hear
influences like King’s X, Garbage, Zeppelin, Soundgarden and Faith No More. Add to
that the increased use of state of the art recording and production equipment these
guys have at their disposal and you have a sound that begs to be seriously cranked
up.
The CD opens with two
powerful tracks that seem aimed to get the listener to immediately pay attention.
Catchy and off tempo in your face power. A style first heard on the early King’s X
releases.
But then the third track, a kind of acoustic guitar based track slows you down and
forces the listener to regroup and rethink their idea of what Event is and is trying
to say.
This musical roller coaster takes off again with One Simple Fall and Live Life Love
Breed. It is truly amazing how this four-piece band manipulates space and time with
guitars, bass, and drums. In many ways Dave’s vocals have been massaged so that his
voice seems to become a separate instrument all its own. Clearly the use of special
microphones and compressors helped in this aspect of this new Event release.
Lyrically, these guys continue their personal examinations of the human condition.
Friendship, emotions, feelings, business, stuff that can go right or turn horribly
wrong.
I suspect the title, Scratching At The Surface, alludes to the idea that what we see
on the surface or outside is not always what is going on just below the surface or
inside this thing called human beings.
So we have here a CD by a band that can no longer be called progressive metal in the
truest sense of the phrase. In fact, you would be hard pressed to classify them in
any way at this point in time.
If you passed on these guys after listening to Electric Skies, cause they were just
another prog metal band, I suggest you give this new CD a spin.
If you like King’s X, Nickelback, Garbage, or even Symphony X, you should find much
to love in this new CD.
Rating: 7.5 of 10
Reviewed By: Stephen Ellis
Visit the artist website:
EVENT
Email:
info@eventband.com
Record Label -
: : DISCOGRAPHY : :
Electric Skies - 1998
Human Condition - 2001
Scratching at the Surface - 2003
You can purchase this CD from:
http://www.eventband.com/store.html
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