GRAPHIC NATURE |
| Graphic Nature are : Bryn Phillips on Lead Vocals Christopher Dame on Guitars and Vocals Grant Colburn on Keyboards and Vocals Pat Hibbard on Bass and Vocals Dennis Gandt on Drums and Percussion The Tracks are : 1. Dig (6:23) 2. I Know (4:45) 3. As Above, So Below (10:04) 4. Forgotten...Gone... (6:06) 5. Never (4:52) 6. Holding On To The Days (7:24) 7. Bringing Me Down (5:29) 8. Blur On The Highway (11:42) 9. Look To The Shadows (6:24) Because of the steady rise in popularity of metal as a whole across Europe, the U.S.A. and at last the dear old U.K. Progressive music at last is enjoying the recognition it deserves. O.K., Dream Theater have been making waves in the music scene for some years, but this year there has already been a fair share of progressive rock and metal albums and some have been of the highest standard and it's great to find the self titled CD by Graphic Nature is as good as we've had. Although in truth, the opening track for me does nothing to give you confidence of the greater things to come. 'Dig', you see, for me sounds forced in every department. ( and I would recommend listening to the rest of the album before listening to this track) But 'I Know', with it's superb keyboard work does wonders to restore your confidence and by the time your halfway through 'As Above, So Below' possibly the best track on the album, you realise that Graphic Nature can live, with the best in this field. The album from then on has a lovely evenflow to it with each track blending perfectly with the next. The quality of the songwriting and musicianship are of a first class group. At this point, a special mention should go to the vocals style of Bryn Phillips Graphic Nature let Bryn's more agressive style shine and this gives a more agressive hard hitting edge to the songs and personally I think will give Graphic Nature a much wider apple especially those who are only used to listening to the harder side of the music scene. As for the rest of the tracks on offer, I was very impressed with the aggressive keyboard work on 'I Know', the guitar, keyboard interchange on 'Never', the dreamy atmosphere created on 'Holding On To The Days' which features some superb guitar work in the middle section and 'Look To The Shadows' for it's obvious Pink Floyd connection and the intro section on 'Blur On The Highway', with the sound of crickets in the night leading to some classic slide guitar, fill the song with so much atmosphere you can almost reach out and touch the greasy oil filled tankers. All in all, this is a superb album and a fine example of what real quality musicians can do when they put their minds to it. Highly recommended!!! For more information contact : Graphic Nature, 110 N. Clay St. (upper), Green Bay, WI 54301 The Graphic Nature Website :http://www.angelfire.com/ga/graphnat |