eMolecule – The Architect
eMolecule – The Architect
InsideOut Music
Release Date: 10/02/23
Running Time: 01:09:55
Review by Simon Black
10/10
M’learned colleague Matt (who runs the equally fabulous web site Musipedia of Metal) and I initially bonded over a shared love of all things Progressive (and lots of beer) and one act he had raved about, well for forever, was Sound of Contact. I never got around to listening to them, but eMolecule is a new two-man project from former SoC members Simon Collins and Kelly Nordstrom (the former you may also have heard of being the son of a former member of Genesis that horrible rags like the Daily Heil like to pick on because they can’t get near his dad). This record has quite frankly, being blowing my little thermally insulated socks off since I first sat down to listen to it…
The two have worked together for a long time on both Sound of Contact and Collin’s solo work, with a demo of the title track of this piece hailing from the latter being the spark that lit the fire for this new project. Not being familiar with any previous work from the pair, I can’t tell how much of a musical departure this is, but it’s clear that the chemistry between the two is something special.
Prog albums aren’t generally known for their brevity, and at five seconds shy of seventy minutes this is no exception, but the challenge often is to keep momentum for that length without running out of steam and boring the listener. eMolecule pulls this off with skilful aplomb, because there is just so much going on in here.
The arrangements are very Progressive – but not alienating to the less complexity inclined; technically impressive – but not overtly showy. Music geeks will absolutely love this, but they retain that all important accessibility and ‘everyman’ appeal that many in the genre forget about. Another factor massively in their favour is the sheer stylistic variety bundled up in here. There’s a lot of Modern Metal tropes, a huge dollop of the Electronica and elements of everything from Industrial to Grunge to Thrash – whatever the song needs their experimentation can support whilst sounding natural, fresh and accessible. That’s no mean feat for a self-produced studio project…
Then there’s the songs themselves.
The writing here is something quite special, with each and every composition standing firmly on its own two feet, whilst still feeling part of the whole. The two of them play absolutely everything, and the way they’ve weaved everything together in the studio is something quite special. This really feels like a band of at least five or six distinct players bouncing off of each other as Prog at its best always does, and I have to pinch myself to remind myself that they are sharing the load between them both. Collins takes the bulk of the vocal duties in a mainly clean register, but again vocally they aren’t afraid to experiment with more rough and ready to downright full-on Extreme styles if that’s where the song takes them. This kind of variety risks sounding messy, but it all hangs together cohesively, which is really a phenomenal trick to pull off.
This is so good I cannot in all honesty pick a favourite. Ask me at the end of the year, because I just know I am going to be listening to this little beauty a lot in the few months, which is a sure sign that it’s an album of the year contender for me.
‘eMolecule’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. eMolecule
02. The Architect
03. Prison Planet
04. Mastermind
05. Dosed
06. The Turn
07. Awaken
08. Beyond Belief
09. The Universal
10. My You
11. Moment of Truth
LINE-UP:
Simon Collins – Vocals, Drums, Keys, Sound Design/Programming
Kelly Nordstrom – Guitars, Bass, Vocals, Keys, Sound Design/Programming
LINKS:
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