I think there must be a factory in Poland which is devoted to producing Prog bands. Here’s another one, Acute Mind, whose self-titled album is their first full release after spending the last three years gaining attention in their home country playing alongside Quidam, Votum and others.
I’d not heard Acute Mind before so the path was laid by “Grief and Pain”, which in spite of its title is a bright song. Ostensibly simple, at one point I was reminded of Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching You”. I didn’t like the vocals so much on this track but my overall view on that was to change. There is a pop-style chorus but equally there’s an unmistakable air of drama, enhanced by the sound of sirens. “Grief and Pain” doesn’t stay still for long and I could see there was a lot more out there in terms of technical skill and depth. What follows supports this view. Each track comes from a different angle, while always falling into the framework of Prog Rock/Metal.
Comparison has been made with Pendragon and Riverside and I can see why. Acute Mind however carve out their own path and there are many great passages on this album. Unlike some Prog bands, this one doesn’t linger and there are no lengthy, drawn out tracks. For me the highlight is “Bonds of Fear” with its magnificent, dreamy ambiance, accompanied by the singer’s soft vocals. We’re taken to a dream land. When the vocalist sings softly, it’s like he’s holding a conversation with us in which he captures us with every word. The album is enhanced greatly by some fine keyboards and nice, atmospheric touches. So it is on the atmospheric “Faces” which is smooth while bordering on heavy, and colourfully Prog without losing its powerful sense of rhythm. This nicely leads into the suspense-laden “Bad Incitements”. Slow, creeping lyrics with delicate instrumental support rise to a climactic chorus. It reminded me of the Dutch band Day Six through its ability to engage us in a story within a funky Prog setting.
The strength of this band lies in their scene-setting and the changing moods which are reflected in their music. I was less keen on “Sweet Smell of Success”, which was more along the lines of Classic Prog, although I did appreciate the great cyber passage which came with it. “Garden” is a more complex version of “Bad Incitements”. The reflective lyrics – those of an acute mind? – are accompanied by some fairly pretentious Prog to start but then a really whispered section gives way to powerful, driving Prog before quietening down again. A solo calms us down. The music is telling a story. My image was of watery sunshine. There’s a bit of “The Eagles go Prog” about it but the whole structure is interesting and it’s well-balanced. Any doubts that I had were dispelled when I heard the third track “Misery”. It’s a slow song, possibly too slow for some, but it’s expertly sung with great electric guitar accompaniment. Riverside can pull off this sort of track without being soapy and so can Acute Mind. “Garden” for me fell only marginally behind “Bonds of Fear” as being the best track on the album. “Bonds of Fear” is the penultimate track. The album finishes off nicely with “Prophecy” which has a good fusion of emotion in the vocal and instrumental output. The guitars take us to a higher plane as a good Prog album should do. They got this right and it’s a good way to end.
At times the music was fairly standard fare but when Acute Mind put imagination and feeling into it, this album is a musical and vocal treat. It’s interesting that my vision as I listened was of someone reflecting by a water front, because that’s exactly the image inside the sleeve of this album. That tells me that I kind of got the concept, not that that in itself matters, but it does tell me that Acute Mind know how to place images in the listener’s mind. With the technical skill and ideas that they have, this could be a really great band, and they’ve started very well with this album.
http://www.myspace.com/acutemind
