A Sceptic's Universe

A Sceptic's Universe

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Debut release for Norwegian technical metal act. For fans of Watchtower, Fates Warning, Death, Atheist and Cyncic. Produced by Neil Kernon (Queensryche, Judas Priest, Nevermore).

Tracks:

Spinning
Excessit
Moving Spirit
Occam's Razor
Insect
Cloud Constructor
Conjuring Callapse
Adaptability
Fountainhead

Album Description

Debut release for Norwegian technical metal act. For fans of Watchtower, Fates Warning, Death, Atheist and Cyncic. Produced by Neil Kernon (Queensryche, Judas Priest, Nevermore).

Customer Reviews:

technical and entertaining.......2007-05-21

I thought most other reviews on the CD were spot on so I won't add much, let me just say that firstly this CD is not as demanding to listen as some have hinted, if you are a regular listener of prog/technical metal then you will be fine! Also, the CD is more enjoyable in a single listen rather than piecemeal you need to devote your attention to the Architect in order to appreciate the changes and atmosphere. Good!

Thinking Man's Music.......2007-04-01

If you're looking for simple and easy music, don't even think of picking this up, but if you're looking for an excellent and unique album, "A Sceptic's Universe" by Spiral Architect has the goods. The biggest standout? Lars Norberg's bass talent. The bass is actually audible in every song on this album, and it is played in a technical matter that will blow you away. It even stands out more than the lead guitar tone, which are also excellent. When it comes to songwriting, Spiral Architect makes your average prog band look like child's play. With influences from prog, classical and jazz, this is interesting. Lastly, the vocals are in a power metal style. Personally, I am not big on this vocal style, but Øyvind Hægeland can execute it well, plus I think it fits the music perfectly.

Overall, if you're looking for an interesting and complex album that makes you think, "A Sceptic's Universe" is a must for your collection. For fans of Cynic, Atheist, Dream Theater, and Watchtower.

Interesting..............2006-12-21

After listening to this one a few times all I can say is...Take some Zappa.some Dream Theatre,some Quiet Room put in a blender and enjoy...If you like any one of those bands you will likely dig this...UP THE IRONS..

Synapse-frying prog metal........2006-07-27

[Dry and overlong review ahead.]

Criminy, this album is nuts. Amazes me that this is just a debut--this Norwegian outfit is already ridiculously tight, with chops pouring from every orifice, and the songwriting is better than you might expect. However, A Sceptic's Universe isn't without flaws.

For one, the vocalist. Ovyvind Haageland (sic?) takes the power metal Geoff Tate-esque route--nothing inherently wrong with that, and his *tone* isn't objectionable. But his phrasing seems to be really awkward, stretching words at the end of verses ("miiiiiind!" etc.) and stumbling through the others in a very odd fashion. There are plenty of vocalists who can sing in odd times and make it work (Jens Kidman and Maynard James Keenan being two) but Haageland's style needs some refining and he's probably the weakest link of this band.

For another, the guitar tone is very light for a nominally metal album. Granted, it's very clear, and you can easily tell what both Steinar Gunderson and Kaj Gornitzka are doing, but it could use a bit more punch (this might be due to the nature of the music they're playing which doesn't rely on fixed riffs very often more than the production itself).

Finally, the lyrics are rather pseudointellectual Randian/objectivist gibberish that I don't really care for, but that's a minor point.

The music itself is utterly insane and takes many listens to grasp let alone enjoy. A little sterile perhaps, but there ARE hooks, and melodies, and even some really awesome polyrhythmic grooves that pop up every now and again (the end of Spinning and the Shuffled section of the epic Cloud Constructor, especially) that remind me of a less brutal Meshuggah. There are also some more atmospheric bits (the breakdown in Adaptability, the jazzy acoustic shredding in the middle of Insect) thrown in to give your brain some rest. The guitar solos are your basic shredfests, but fortunately they're short and each track isn't just a bunch of solos thrown on top of each other (and the keyboard solos are kept to a minimum, thank God).

And Lars K. Norberg... holy shoes, this man can play bass like you wouldn't believe. Few tech-metal bands allow their bassist this much freedom or space in the mix, and Norberg takes advantage on every track with some amazing jazzy runs on his four-string (without hogging the limelight). Asgeir Mickelson (Borknagar) plays drums with surprising restraint given the rest of the band, but anyone who can keep this pack of maniacal virtuosos tethered to the ground deserves kudos.

I was torn between giving A Sceptic's Universe a 3.5 or a 4-star rating, given its rather glaring faults but I can't dismiss the potential and phenomenal playing of this band. With better songwriting and a new vocalist (Vintersorg or Garm, perhaps?) Spiral Architect could be the prog-metal outfit to beat. Not bad for a band that already makes Dream Theater look like AC/DC. Fans of Cynic, Athiest, Dillinger Escape Plan, Queensryche etc. would like this one.

Robot Metal.......2006-02-09

I found myself both amazed and disappointed by Spiral Architect's album A Skeptic's Universe.

It's hard not to be amazed by the musicianship on display here. This is a band full of virtuosos, creating highly complex progressive metal with such mathematical precision that one can't help but be impressed. The band clearly follows the path established by Cynic, Atheist, Watchtower, and to a lesser extent Dream Theater and Fates Warning, and then takes the technicality and complexity one step further!

Unfortunately it's not that much fun to listen to. Again, my hat is off to the band's technical prowess, but there's more to good music than ability. Spiral Architect bills themselves as "thinking man's metal", and that may be true. But metal also has a lot to do with emotion and power, and that is sadly lacking here. Some of the blame lies with the vocalist, whose delivery is so jagged and unmelodic that it does nothing to draw the listener in. A Skeptic's Universe might have worked better as an instrumental effort like Liquid Tension Experiment or Gordian Knot. Another flaw is that the tracks on this album don't seem like songs at all, but rather resemble complicated math problems. They're brilliantly executed, but cold and emotionless just the same.

Cynic and Atheist proved that you can make highly technical metal without sacrificing emotion, and Dream Theater and Fates Warning proved that you can have technical prowess and still write good songs. Images and Words was a very technical album at a time when that was still a rare occurrence, but a large part of its power is the feeling you get when the instruments, vocals, melodies, lyrics - the SONGS - come together to mesmerize the listener. It's been 12 years and I still get chills listening to that album!

I am totally in awe of what the musicians in Spiral Architect are able to accomplish technically, but given the choice I'll take something less technical and more emotional (see Evergrey) every time.

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