http://www.ytsejam.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=1296

Think of these guys as a less frenzied Spiral Architect, a heavier Liquid Tension Experiment, or even a more melodic Twisted Into Form, but instrumental. What Animations produces is finite jam sessions that are expressive, fluidly chaotic, and heavy as hell. With their music pondering upon epical proportions, yet keeping it intact with all the edginess in tow, built around several melodies/tunes, letting the all the improvisations dance around the baseline compositions.

With no vocals to be found, this self-titled album allows a heaping of headroom for all instruments to stand out, drum fills, rhythmic punchlines, solos everywhere, and duels between instruments; where all the while, the music tells an auditory story – particularly with two extended tracks, both “911” and the title cut, where “911” tends to have a more upbeat attitude to it, although moments of darkness intrude within the moodiness (particularly within the piano interlude) and the title cut, which consists of a more sinister tone, building up from a dark soundscape to a more animated epic, where the key changes and time signatures switch off at a jittery rate; although there are moments of groove laden overtones (particularly towards the end).

Intrigue is sparked with the more straightforward track “Oranges” as well as the emotional sub-ballad “912 (The Day After),” but of course it’s back to the more proggy stuff with “Lost in Infinity” and the full-on metal of “Sonic Maze.” This is one of the most enjoyable albums to come along in the instrumental progressive metal sphere to come along in a while; thankfully, these guys put the melodies first and let the musicianship compliment the rest. To sum it up, Animations is seventy minutes of pure melodic technical mastery that proves that someone out there has put the ‘balls’ back into musician oriented music.

Tommy Hash

Ocena: 4.5 / 5