Review Summary: Curious listeners, look this way!
In everyday life I spend lots of time searching for new and exciting music. I do it because I know what the feeling of rewarding content feels like when I've stumbled upon something special. If you’re stubborn and persistent enough, you will come to learn why people like you and me exchange entire chunks of their lives for the change of getting in touch with that very precious sense of fulfillment. Discovering a distinctive gem often come by chance; a careless click towards the cover with an interesting trace, the gaze that accidentally fell upon a “now playing”-post on an internet forum or apathetically browsing through Spotify's vast assortment of similar artists. Regardless of which medium, the unavoidable find signifies a triumphant day for devoted listeners and every time you’ll ask yourself
why bands like this are kept hidden from the public eye. Well, spreading the word to as many places as merely possible is a devoted listener’s duty. Especially if they want to make sure their new jewel gets its share of time in the spotlight ray. This is the kind of music you’re hoping to find in the search for stimulating music and the reason why writing reviews is a voluntary act.
“Schizoid Lloyd –
Virus” adorns the cover to a young and very ambitious group of Dutch heritage. As you might have already guessed, their debut EP broods in an obscure part of the music market and has done so since its release in the beginning of 2010. It’s an untouched diamond just waiting to be exposed to an audience that would surely thrive in its queer company. You’ll meet with a scarce type of progressive rock fueled by eclectic influence and underlying talent, performed with striking finesse. The record’s mere four tracks are all strong implications of musical curiosity and exciting experimental treats without stumbling upon itself in unnecessary oddity; an ever so often reoccurring anticlimax in the industry of modern prog. Progressive rock with a modern twist does in general quite solely appear as contradictory and terribly old and tried. Schizoid Lloyd on the other hand shines with a new and fresh interpretation of the genre, finally settling on something far detached to dry efforts to reinvent a genre that hasn't been properly blooming for some 40 years. The band has been putting lots of work into writing memorable melodies, catchy (albeit clever) passages and covers the foundation with subtle synthesizers and details which further add to an exciting sound.
Virus drips with unbroken concentration and makes no room for not even a second's worth of writers block or idle fillers. I warmly recommend it to anyone who happens to read this and is feeling done searching for the day. You won't find anything quite like this elsewhere. Arjen Lucassen is up for strong competition!
