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About the author
Brad is an OzProg founder, a passionate supporter of Aussie music, and OzProg's resident techy-nerd-slash-editor.
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Aaron Pollard, keyboardist and vocalist for Perth progressive rock band Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving, seems to delight in making life in the studio difficult for his bandmates.
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7/10
One is from New South Wales; the other Western Australia. One is a serious but sunny post-rock group in the vein of Explosions In The Sky and 65daysofstatic; the other a malestrom of jazz, post-rock and metal who defy being pigeon-holed. Read more
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8/10
Toe Hider escaped from the mind of one Michael Mills, previously the singer, guitarist and primary driving force behind Melbourne prog wunderkinds Template. But where Template framed itself somewhere between Led Zeppelin and The Mars Volta on the wank scale (and I mean that in the best possible way), Toe Hider cranks the prog-o-meter way up to 11. Read more
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Eve's Protege - Memento Mori
Contributed by Bradley Dixon
Memento Mori
I've not yet heard a band with an obvious Tool influence that sounds better than Tool, and the odds are stacked against the possibility that I ever will. But, God love 'em, the bands keep trying.
Eve's Protege are talented musicians with an emotive, passionate vocalist; but every time I listen to Memento Mori—their debut EP—I wonder to myself how exceptional the product could have been if only they'd made more of an effort to branch out from the stereotypical medium-paced "alternative rock" sound.
As I see it, the album's problems can be separated into two levels: the subtle, and the more obvious.
The subtle: everything from the crunchy guitar tone and swirling riffs to the light vocal reverb leaves a gentle yet distinct taste of Tool on the pallette.
The obvious: the title track's similarity to "46 & 2" and "Schism" is more than passing.
When the best thing you can say about a CD is that it's not all derivative, you're in trouble.
What some bands don't understand is that, yes, Tool's best work and the work they are most famous for, is their heavier, rhythmic hard rock side.
But what set them apart and made them a truly great group was that their music had colour: Aenima had the slow-burning "Eulogy", the dark, constrictive "Jimmy" and the thinner, more frantic "Aenema" - not to mention "Message to Harry Manback" and "Intermission". Lateralus countered one-dimensionality with songs like "Parabol" and "Disposition". 10,000 Days swings from "Rosetta Stoned" and it's crushing heaviness to "Intension", a song breathtaking in its ethereality.
Without the light, the dark isn't as effective. Without "Parabol", "Parabola" would be a good song; with it, it's a great song.
So on the surface it may seem like an album of songs that sound like "Parabola", "Schmism" and "46 & 2" would be fantastic, but in practice? Not so much.
In Eve's Protege's favour is the fact that many bands before them have graduated from being Tool tribute acts early in the careers to releasing original, even groundbreaking work later on. You need only compare Cog's Just Visiting EPs to the magnificent Sharing Space for proof.
But as it stands, Memento Mori is an exercise in wasted talent. And talent is one thing they do have. If they can begin writing more interesting music, the only place Eve's Protege can go is straight up.
As I see it, the album's problems can be separated into two levels: the subtle, and the more obvious.
The subtle: everything from the crunchy guitar tone and swirling riffs to the light vocal reverb leaves a gentle yet distinct taste of Tool on the pallette.
The obvious: the title track's similarity to "46 & 2" and "Schism" is more than passing.
When the best thing you can say about a CD is that it's not all derivative, you're in trouble.
What some bands don't understand is that, yes, Tool's best work and the work they are most famous for, is their heavier, rhythmic hard rock side.
But what set them apart and made them a truly great group was that their music had colour: Aenima had the slow-burning "Eulogy", the dark, constrictive "Jimmy" and the thinner, more frantic "Aenema" - not to mention "Message to Harry Manback" and "Intermission". Lateralus countered one-dimensionality with songs like "Parabol" and "Disposition". 10,000 Days swings from "Rosetta Stoned" and it's crushing heaviness to "Intension", a song breathtaking in its ethereality.
Without the light, the dark isn't as effective. Without "Parabol", "Parabola" would be a good song; with it, it's a great song.
So on the surface it may seem like an album of songs that sound like "Parabola", "Schmism" and "46 & 2" would be fantastic, but in practice? Not so much.
In Eve's Protege's favour is the fact that many bands before them have graduated from being Tool tribute acts early in the careers to releasing original, even groundbreaking work later on. You need only compare Cog's Just Visiting EPs to the magnificent Sharing Space for proof.
But as it stands, Memento Mori is an exercise in wasted talent. And talent is one thing they do have. If they can begin writing more interesting music, the only place Eve's Protege can go is straight up.