TERMINUS "A Single Point of Light"

TERMINUS

"A Single Point of Light"

There are more bands trying their hand at epic science fiction concepts these days than you can shake a starship at. NUCLEUS and NOCTURNUS come to mind immediately, but here we see Ireland's TERMINUS throwing their space helmet into the ring. I wonder if all sci-fi oriented bands must have US at the end of their name? At any rate, TERMINUS actually do a more than credible job on "A Single Point of Light".

The band plays a fast, progressive style of metal that's a bit more aggressive than power metal but not quite thrash. "Band" is actually stretching the term, as one man, David Gillespie, plays all instruments here. And he does a damn good job of it, too! It really does sound like the work of multiple people and if there's any computer enhancement, I sure can't detect it. The vocals are courtesy of James Beattie, who has a clear, rich style. The 7 tunes here are all on the fast side and there's no piddling around with semi-ballads, narration or samples. "To Ash, To Dust" starts off with a furious barrage of lead guitar soloing, which is not an approach you hear much these days. Gillespie puts lots of twin guitar harmony into the songs. The intensity and speed is pretty steady throughout and although there are enough time changes and instrumental bombast to justify the "prog" tag, this is a very fast and heavy album. The last tune "Spinning Webs, Catching Dreams" exceeds 10 minutes and keeps the gas pedal down all the way through.

Not all of the tracks are part of the main concept, but most of them are. The lyrics deal a lot with advanced technology and how artificial intelligence will change the human race. It's intelligently written stuff and though my attention wandered in a couple of spots, I was impressed with "A Single Point of Light". A good job from these two gentlemen!

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TERMINUS