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The Cyberiam — Unobtainium
(Bandcamp no#, 2024, LP)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-09-14

On Connected (2021), The Cyberiam showed their stuff with a superbly crafted set of progressive rock songs, and Unobtainium carries on from that high mark without slipping in quality. If you like prog that jumps right in and gets to the point without going to epic lengths, The Cyberiam is likely to scratch that itch. Only one of the seven tracks (eight with a bonus track) ventures about seven minutes, but the band varies their structures and sounds enough that this is clearly not mainstream rock. I suppose a comparison to Muse might be appropriate, but more useful references would be Pineapple Thief, The Tea Party, and McStine & Minnemann. Unobtainium is full of nice moments, and for some reason the track “Double X” really strikes me. It starts with a free-form section with a stellar guitar solo backed by atmospheric keyboards that seem like the modern equivalent of a Mellotron choir. There’s maybe a hint of David Gilmour in the playing, but the heavy sustaining distortion sets it apart, and once the drums come in, Pink Floyd is clearly not a reference. I also really like the way the guitar keeps playing long tones and lets the bass anchor the tonality — it gives the song a very different feel from most other artists. If you took “Ghost in the Machine” and dialed back on the modern synthesizers, it could almost pass for a classic Styx ballad, and I mean that as a compliment — while I’m not a big Styx fan, at their best they did write some good tunes. Elsewhere, I really enjoy the way that they combine aggressive heavy riffs with melodic vocals and avoid sounding like prog metal. For fans of modern prog looking for something new, The Cyberiam is a band worth investigating.

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Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): The Cyberiam

More info
http://thecyberiam.bandcamp.com/album/unobtainium

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