After listening to and reviewing Cyberiam's live album Forging Nations (2020, see review) I was really looking forward to review the 2nd full-length album of this prog rock Chicago quartet called Connected. This new CD features nine brand new tracks with a total playing time of more than seventy minutes, so there is a lot to enjoy! On Connected you can hear musical influences from Rush, Dream Theater, Tool, Porcupine Tree, Enchant, Tiles and even Coheed And Cambria, resulting in strong melodic compositions with addictive choruses, heavy prog rockers and absolutely NO fillers! Opener Interrogation Room B features an inventive almost pop/rock sound and leaves you flabbergasted after more than nine minutes of playing time. Follow up The Moral Landscape is definitely one of the highlights as it sounds like an almost perfect mix of a Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson song! Sunset On Mars stands out due to the awesome guitar solo by Keith Sample, while InSaN1tY rocks really hard and heavy and has a truly very percussive groove. The title track is a lengthy ballad with a beautiful vocal duet by Brian Kovacs (who also plays the bass guitar) and lead vocalist Keith Sample. Miles Away is probably the heaviest track of the album as it features some heavy metal prog characteristics, which you might even call metallic indeed. Bigger Questions ends this album and that one has obvious Dream Theater influences, so a great way to end this marvellous album. Although the album clocks over 70 minutes Connected is over in a jiffy and then you can listen to the entire album again without being bored for a minute! The Cyberiam did an excellent job again and I am pretty sure that Connected will end up very high in my top ten album list of 2021: well, done guys! Martien Koolen (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
