Review in What’s Up Magazine
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by Brian Fannin – What’s Up Magazine Best described as melodic heavy ambient rock, this eight-track album by Under the Given is more of a work of art than just a collection of songs. The difference is paramount. Its one thing to put out a radio-friendly-track-laden record, it’s another to create an actual album. Wake has a flow to it, and a recognizable sound overall. Drummer Lyons’ clean vocals are a mix of Maynard James Keenan (Tool) and Ed Kowalczyk (Live). His overdriven vocals are powerful but not over-done. This combination shows diversity while retaining musicality. Jeff Weissenborn and Jason Buck on guitar weave quite the soundscape. They have done a great job of texturing the guitar tones with flavor, keeping them both recognizable and fresh. Bassist Adam Hagen has great tone, touch, and sense of melody. Adam and Tyler Newberg (Drums) are adept at crafting the groove to these songs. Tyler really shines on this album with tight, powerful and yet sonically visual percussion. Cello was well placed by Josh Weissenborn. The title track really sets this band apart. Very reminiscent of Iron Maiden’s “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner,” it starts out by painting the art we see on the album cover. The recording quality is top notch, even and clear. The packaging is nothing less than what you would expect from a much more established group. A code revealed in the insert, gives you “automatic membership” for extras on their website. The solo work is melodic and has feel but doesn’t seem to be intentionally placed. The one place on the album that this proved to be a weakness was the solo in “Chapters,” at the 3:43 mark. It’s unknown if this out of key phrase was intentional, but it just didn’t seem to fit the song. All that room in the 6-page insert, no lyrics. It was a bummer to be denied that connection to the music. Overall it was great to listen to and delve into this work of art. Being their debut album, I am very interested to see what comes next for this local 5-piece. |
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