DEEP HORIZON PRESS: REVIEWS Page Three: Song by Song review by Nancy DEEP HORIZON: I like the intro, immediately I'm paying attention. The vocal ooooh from Scott OOOO puts me in a visual. Then the keyboards, the lovely keyboard dynamics start dancing off each other. Awesome keyboard melody. The low and high dynamics and all those contradictions right there are awesome. Then that raunchy guitar, that mean raunchy guitar steps in and has a few words with the keyborads. They both want to talk at the same time but know that one can't shine while the other is talking, so they battle it out. Until an even greater force silences them....words. But this is not the visual I am talking about. Here's the visual: I am standing on top of the Grand Canyon with headphones on and listening to this song. The way the vocals are produced with that echo, surround sound, effect is so strong. Like how I would yell into the Grand Canyon and can hear that echo for miles. So as I'm standing there, I can see the whole world and I want everyone in the whole world to hear the message in this song, because there is a conviction in it. So I unplug the headphones and let this song rip through the valleys of the Canyon, allowing the echo to travel and reach all who need to hear. Visual now over. At time interval 4:16-4:20 I love the ambiance there. Then at 4:51-5:05, I visualize skydiving. I think of the movie Point Break with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, when they are in that scene where one of them has to pull the rip cord. Love the guitar solo. Also to note about the vocals: Scott's vocal raunchiness matches perfectly to the raunchy guitar riffs. The blend of those 2 throughout parts of the song are great. Gives that emotion and conviction. But when it ended, I was like, "that's it" Could not believe that was 8 minutes. I like the graphic in the booklet. Eerie looking with a cool solar system sky. BREAKING POINT Immediately love the rhythm and groove and dynamics. especially with the guitar at 0:18---0:41. Love that time signature and time pattern between the drums and guitar. Great power. Awesome dynamics. Nice vocal melody, especially on SPEAK, CRASH, BREAK, REACH, etc...I love the guitar work over that vocal. Cool patterns and rhythm. Nice harmonies on the vocals. I see twin towers in the booklet graphic picture. You know, I was driving through the hills of Stony Brook today listening to the CD and it was about 7PM, and I had open landscapes in certain areas where I was driving. There was something about how the sky looked with the sun just about setting that really captured the mood. It was chilling. Awesome!!!!! A PATH OF PRIDE Love love love the ambiant intro. Another visual song. Actually all the songs are visual to me. I love the musical layering and then at 0:33, the guitar riff steps in. I love that aggression. I like the ambiance effect behind the beginning vocals. The sound of the vocals is interesting on "Come join me inside my head" etc.. is awesome. I like the diversity Scott shows. He's got that colorful palate to work with and uses it well throughout this CD. Then he kicks in with "A Path of Pride." Love that soulful powerful emotion. I like how the guitars and vocals match each other on the emotion of what the lyrics are conveying. Really really really like the CD booklet picture. The colors you use there really give it that eeeriness. The desolation and isolation. Aaahhh those factory landscapes. LIGHT YEARS Like the intro. Another visual here for me. I can see myself flying through space and meteors are whizzing past me (as the sound effects imply). The meteors never hit me though because I am the speed of light, and I have a continuos destination. Then at 3:15, I'm just flying through space and the meteors have stopped whizzing past me. I have this peaceful feeling and I am taking in the scenary, until at 3:39, the next group of meteors start again. I think I see Haileys comet in the CD booklet picture. The colors are great (as with all the graphics). The lyrics at the beginning are very visual. "A distant storm is dawning." Chilling. And the vocal melody is great. I am really into lyrics and I like these. I like the style, if it even exists. INVISIBLE DARKNESS I immediately love love love the intro from 0:01--0:26. Dark and dark and even more dark. I like at 0:40--0:59 that whole rhythm section. I like the keyboard melody here and the time changes before the vocals kick in. This is an awesome showcase of the dynamics of using multiple instruments and sounds meshing with those time changes. Especially from 0:40--1:13. Great progressive dynamics here. I can't even pinpoint what one instrument is doing. There is so much to take in. Such awesomeness to take in. Then the vocals kick in at 1:24. Awesome effect of the emotion in the voice pertaining to what the lyrics are stating. Love the vocal production, especially on the sound of "go." The voice just soars into eternity. Then the contrast to that is "On the edge, I know where I stand." Nice eerie sound, showcasing again the vocal diversity. Then at 3:45-3:53, that vocal there is awesome. Capturing the message in the lyrics. And then more chills at 3:54 with the guitar. Love that guitar part. Love that whole section right to the end. The cd booklet picture is my favorite. I really like how it looks. Captures the mood of the song. Love that landscape too at night, with the solar system sky. Awesome!!! And the colors of the rainbow fit in nicely. That's a beauty. TURNING AWAY The intro from 0:01--0:31 sent me to an instant flashback. It reminds me of the song from a TV show I used to watch as a child. The show was Reading Rainbow. Now remember, I have headphones on for this entire CD. I also have the volume on a 7 out of 10. So maybe you should add a disclaimer at the beginning of this song (he he) Let me explain: So the intro begins, very pretty, aaaahhh, and then all of a sudden (remember the volume setting?), BAM BOOM FIRE, the guitar comes in with the vocals and scares the crap out of me. But that was still awesome. The unexpectedness. I also had another visual with this song. I''m being hypnotized by a hypnotherapist (Gee I would hope so), and I'm just entering the trance state when, all of a sudden, I'm in that recurring dream where I'm falling down a flight of stairs in slow motion and I always wake up before the impact. But here, instead of waking up before the impact, I crash. That's what it felt like when the guitars and vocals kicked in. RE-ENGINEERING THE MIND Like this title name. When I first looked at it, I thought it read re-entering the mind. Absolutely love the guitar melody, time signature and overall melody on the entire composition. I'm a fan of instrumentals and I don't care if it's a 20 minute piece. I'll never tire of them, if I'm really into what the artist is "saying." (You know, kind of like what is going on with this piece). MMMM, HMMM. So at 0:47--1:23, I love that guitar solo. I like the sound too, very Tony MacAlpine "ish" Then I love 1:24--1:50 Awesome overlapping of various sounds and completely multi-dimensional. I like the keyboard ambiance playing against the drum pattern. I'm slowly flying through the sky. Taking on the wind. Oooh there's that visual again. Then at 1:51--2:17 that nice guitar sound. Clear and soaring. Really like that melody. Then at 3:07, again love that part. All of a sudden I can visualize Virgil Donati putting in his drum idea there. Nice dynamics throughout that. Love from 5:07--5:20. I like how there is that pause, the calm before the storm, then the adrenalin kicks in at 5:38 when the drums start. Then right to the end, all of the dynamics from the whole song join in. Awesome awesome Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love the end solo/harmony----nice emotion on guitar. I see myself playing this song as I'm driving on the open road and I can see the horizon for miles. Like in the desert or countryside roads. Well that goes for the whole CD as previously mentioned. Very visual. Then the time shift again at 7:01 till the end. And at 8 minutes and change, I sit and sulk and say 'THAT'S IT?"   FALLING DOWN Everything about this song is perfect. Seriously..the time changes, layering of sounds, guitar riffs, lyrical style, and downright pure convicting emotion. DAMM. I am completely drawn into this song. There is something about this song that has gripped my mind and won't let me go. I always feel this EXTREME adrenalin. The intro 0:12--0:22 I like that melody with the bass. Love the drum patterns over the keyboards. Then the awesome guitar riff comes in at 0:23--0:49. As soon as that riff begins, the adrenalin is soaring high. I like the whole layering there. Then at 0:50, I like how there is that pause from the rhythm of the intro of the song, just before the vocals kick in. The awesome vocals, love that emotion and contrast in sound of the first 2 lines. "Scenes from my imagination" is an awesome line, lyrically. I like how it is so calm and then I just get ripped apart with "Haunt me in a way." I also love that guitar riff on "Haunt me in a way" until "killing me is real." Love how those 2 work there together. each matching the intensity of the lyrics. Then at 1:19--1:44 an extreme emotion of sadness comes over me. (Still questioning it) There is something about what the lyrics are saying and that guitar part that starts the eyes to well up. Especially "I remember bettter times." And by the time "I thought we'd never break or find" I'm completely broken down. Just that section though. Could also be the visual I'm getting with the lyrics. Then I'm "saved" with "Falling Down, when life gets in the way. The adrenalin is off its rocker there. But this whole section (1:45--2:31) is complete vocal conviction. If Scott is singing from a non-fictional point of view, then that vocal is purely believable. Like he's been personally affected. Again love that raunchy aggressive guitar there to match the emotion in the vocals. Then at 2:31---2:55, oh no, the sadness that I thought I supressed comes back, right to the end. Lyrically, very haunting in imaging what this song could be about!!! Especially on "we found it wouldn't last." But I'm alright now :) Got my composure back. Then the time shift again at 2:56--3:30 with the Falling Down section. Haunting and chilling are those lyrics. I have never been so cold listening to a cd. Then the unbelievable in tune vocal scream from Scott. My jaw is still on the floor. At 3:33-3:55, I absolutely love this section. Love the guitar melody with the high hats throwing their 2 sense in on the offbeat. , coupled with the bass drum. Awesome dynamics. Then at 3:56 till 4:22, love the guitar solo and the ever more awesome guitar soar at 4:23 till the end. And sadly folks, it over at 4 minutes and change. This should have been at least a 15 minuter. Scott could you only imagine if it was. I would have 3 more pages to write.   ZERO HOUR love the opener guitar groove. Dark and aggressive and succeeds in bringing the emotion of this song out. Vocals...power to the hills. Pure conviction. Lyrically...from Ground Zero Hour to Zero Hour. The war in Irag. Well that is what I think it is about. Very angry song. At 1:48-2:07 the time signature is so awesome. What is that with the guitar sound??? 7/5??? I'm still not very good in identifying the progressive signatures.     SPACE BETWEEN LIVES Another great ambiant intro. I like the title of this song. Love that guitar opener at 1:05-1:27. Got chills with the sound. Haunting. I get a visual ...I am stranded in the desert and the world is desolate. I am completely alone. Then 1:55-2:40 love those dynamics and the time changes with that time signature. Ok this is 3/4, with the high hats?? The vocals is another surprise from Scott. On "Suffering & cold, in a world full of hate." That light falsetto is so unexpected, But really draws such an emotion. Then "There's a dream that dies" awesome soaring vocals. Has that echo, that surround sound feel. Especilally on "dies" and "cries". Then on the second chorus "our lives, are never the same," Great power there. I really like the contrast of those vocal dimensions throughout the song. Falsetto vs.aggression. Then at 5:07, that awesome eerie guitar. Wish you expanded on that feeling though. But still chilling. At 5:36 love how the drums start and the adrenalin kicks in. Also awesome dynamics with the ambiant sound effects in the background and different time patterns of the two working together. Then at 5:51-6:49 awesome dynamics again between the layering of sound. Especially the drum and guitar pattern working together. At 7:14, vocals echo into eternity. Love that final guitar riff & groove at 8:21-8:51 with the high hats building in the background. Then at 8:52 the high hats come in more focal. Then the instrumental layering is cool. 9 minutes...NO WAY.....WAY TOO SHORT dammit. And that's it...now for a few last comments..... I have been moved by every song that I listened to. There is so much emotion and conviction in the music and lyrics and the vocals, at times I was moved to tears. I was also listening to this CD for the first time without headphones on and then realized I think I am missing out on some cool effects here, so I put them on. And man, WHAT A DIFFERENCE. But what makes a difference in my life.....well this is one if the things....is music. I am going to quote a quote from another person who is a musician...."Music is to the soul, what breath is to the body. It is the fundamental ingredient of dreams, of inspiration. Music is universally inspiring." And that is what I feel Scott listening to your craft...Completely inspired.   JURRIEN HAGE (Netherlands Prog writer): Scott Mosher now has at least three albums to his name, with Inferno and Virtuality being two others known to me (but I have not heard them). He labels himself an ``allroundniceguy'' and has some help from Scott Oliva to do all the vocals.   The album: The album opens with plenty of noisy guitar, as if to wake us all up. Then the music proceeds in more leisurely fashion with friendly synths interwining. During the vocal passages, we have both: the crunchy lead guitars and the percolating, melodious keyboards in the back. The vocals of Oliva are those of a typical metal vocalist, with plenty of drama added, a bit in the vein of Saviour Machine, and with plenty of echo too. The lyrics are of the world-observing kind, on this song rather gloomy. The guitar solo in the middle owes a bit to the likes of Gordian Knot, not so typically ``metal''.   The Breaking Point is more accessible, being strongly AORish in character, yet opening with plenty of keyboards. This song is a bit too straightforward for my tastes, and the drums sound very programmed. The dramatics of the vocalist seem a bit overdone, holding on to notes at the end of his lines. I like Mosher better on the the more epic tunes, such A Path Of Pride that kicks off in bombastic fashion. A long intro flows right into a Saviour Machine style vocal section, accompanied by strong driving rhythm guitars. It is too bad the drummer isn't a flesh one, it could have enhanced the power even a bit more. The vocals also have an Iron Maiden influence, but stay in the lower regions a bit more (fortunately).   The sci-fi concepts of Light Years, and the pace reminds a bit of Rush's Red Sector A (although, and there is no shame in that, they stay well below its level). From Rush the step is small to Saga. Indeed Mosher has the crunchy guitars, and I guess the vocalists aren't that dissimilar either. In Visible Darkness is a rather slow tune, certainly from the singers viewpoint. This implies that Saviour Machine is not far off. Indeed, his voice is very low key here. The guitar solo has a bit of a Floyd/psyche feel.   The steady drum programmer, and the monotonous rhythm guitars make the Turning Away a rather steady affair. The song is carried mainly by the vocal line, which is okay, but due to the similarities in vocal technique not that different from the foregoing.   Re-engineering The Mind is one of the lengthier tracks immediately noticeable from the much longer intro. The melody is good here, quite memorable. Then he breaks into a keyboard piece that has a bit of an eighties feel (say Ultravox). He then segues back into the guitar part, with again some strongly epic, good melodic material. This song is also a resting point for the singer, and I think it is a good idea to take a break, because the singer does put his stamp on the music, and there is the danger of oversimilarity. Mosher is now forced to put his melodies where his guitar is, and that certainly helps the song along.   Falling Down opens with fast keyboard runs. The vocal part is very dark, Oliva is at times very hard to understand (which is only fitting in this case). The vocals have quite a bit of muscle, bringing Symphony X to mind. The song has the tendency to alternate between the slow, darker passage and the high-pace progmetal elements. The bombast can also be likened to Ayreon's heavier stuff.   On Zero Hour, the mood is certainly not pleasant. There is plenty of foreboding and the lyrics are none too happy either. Still, Iron Maiden is closest by, mainly due to the operatic singing. The Space Between Lives is the long closer, almost ten minutes long. I expect and get a lengthy intro. For the rest, we are in familiar territory.   Conclusion: Mosher is certainly allround handling most duties here, except the vocals, and a guitar solo here and there. His style leans mostly towards progmetal with elements of AOR in there too (admittedly on the least interesting tunes). His lyrics are often sci-fi'ish in content with plenty of drama added by the vocalist. In the slower, low sections, this reminds me of Saviour Machine, otherwise Saga and sometimes Iron Maiden come to mind. Musically, I guess Symphony X, Rush and Saga come closest. I wonder how this would sound backed by a good, live drummer, now the drums are programmed, and this is audible although not disturbing or anything. Mosher is certainly not guitar only, since he plays them himself, he might as well give keyboards an important role, and this is what he does. Prime examples of the style are to be found in the longer tracks.