Search - Echolyn :: Suffocating the Bloom

Echolyn - Early Outstanding Effort

Steven Sly | Kalamazoo, MI United States | 02/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When this album came out I had no idea this band existed. In fact in 1992 for all I knew progressive rock was dead and gone. It was in the late 90's when I discovered Echolyn and went back and purchased their entire back catalogue. Echolyn are still one of the most unique bands, prog or otherwise, to have emerged from the United States in the last two decades. Although the band seems to want to distance themselves from this album, I think it ranks up as one of their best. Yes, they were young and their songwriting skills may have still been developing, but holy cow what potential they had. It all shines through on this album as the band basically throw everything plus the kitchen sink at the listener to see what fits. The first half of the album consists of individual songs that are mostly of the shorter variety. Highlights include "21", "Winterthru", "Memoirs From Between", "A Little Nonsense" and "Here I Am" The band takes classic progressive rock influences, then mold them into a unique sound that is completely their own. There really is no other band out there that sounds like Echolyn. The last half of the album is the 28 plus minute "A Suite For The Everyman". This epic is a tour de force that covers just about every musical style you could mention. The "Those That Want To Buy" section of the piece would prove to be prophetic of events for the band in the not too distant future. Instrumentally the performances are flawless with each band member showcasing their skills throughout the disc. Ray Weston and Brett Kull's lyrics get a bit obtuse at times, but for the most part I like them, and find some of them quite poignant. "I feel like I'm always sawing through the branch that I'm sitting on".........indeed I can relate. Fans seemed to have mixed reactions to this disc, and the band pretty much disses it, but for me it remains one of my favorites. The album would impress Sony enough to sign the band to a major labeled contract........for a while at least......."