To The Stars - Resistor

To The Stars (Resistor, 2014)

1. To The Stars - 11:47
2. Random Values - 2:59
3. I, of the Hurricane - 4:34
4. Train To Tucana - 7:09
5. Atlantis' Final Flight - 6:08
6. Little Lie - 5:21
7. AnnihilExcavation - 8:38
8. The Boy With His Brain Out In Space - 12:52

Creative guitar-based progressive rock married to adventurous, Lovecraftian lyrics?  Yes please!  I guess only "I, of the Hurricane", "AnnihilExcavation", and "The Boy With His Brain Out In Space" are outright sci-fi/horror stories that remind me of the master of weird fiction, but the other songs include strong themes or resonances, whether it is the shuttle launch of "Atlantis' Final Flight", the monster-like personification in "Little Lie", or the "sensing ancient secrets from afar" lyrics in "To The Stars". With music as epic as the lyrical content, yet always retaining a sense of fun, To The Stars is another great album from this independent Rhode Island-based band.

The thing I love about this band is their tightness and focus.  Fran Turner and Steve Unruh craft dense, rich guitar textures out of which tuneful solos for guitar, violin, and flute are born. Rob Winslow and Barry Farrands on bass and drums (respectively) carve out melodic space for their instruments in subtle ways, yet they are always ready to lock in with the guitars on dramatic unison riffs ("I, of the Hurricane") or to drive the shape and dynamic of a slow-building instrumental section ("To The Stars", "Atlantis' Final Flight" or "The Boy...") until it reaches the perfect tension point.  Then there are those glorious times where the pot boils over, like when Fran's guitar and Steve's violin trade solos on "Train To Tucana" (including, I'm pretty sure, a musical quote from a childhood taunt - or maybe it's from a classic Italian opera, I'm not sure) or when the band delivers hard-hitting, skewed stop-time metal merged with Pink Floyd-style atmospherics on "AnnihilExcavation".  And Steve displays some serious vocal range, hitting soaring high notes and even a few Opeth-like growls (namely when the dead are walking).

For those who like tight, adventurous rock with a sense of humor and imagination, Resistor is not to be missed, and To The Stars delivers.

Arbitrary rating: 5 out of 5 ancient secrets from afar