Review Summary: This is a true hidden gem and an incredible piece of instrumental songwriting and musicianship. Coevality bring the best of both worlds, soothing atmospheres and catchy melodies, as well as genuinely impressive mechanical skill.
I found this little gem on rateyourmusic by filtering the 2021 prog albums by “Esoteric” and saw that this was pretty highly rated. My intrigue picked up when I read that it featured fretless bass and fretless guitars, and after I read that this was for fans of Cynic I had to listen to it. Since then Multiple Personalities has been in my library and been getting slowly digested throughout 2021. To be honest, I would have reviewed it originally if I hadn’t missed the release date by over a month but it is good enough for me to be diligent on speaking my mind before all of the prog metal “album of the year” content gets released.
After many thorough listens, Coevality continued to exceed my expectations with their lush mix, progressive songwriting, and instrumental creativity. It is even more interesting to note that there really isn’t very much out there like this album. Find me a progressive rock/metal instrumental album with a center-stage, Cynic-esque, fretless bass performance that also has math-rock and jazz fusion influences. This is close to what it would sound like if The Omnific did an album cover of Gordian Knot. It is very hard to pinpoint how much the band weighs into each genre because even though it is primarily prog rock and jazz fusion, it does have noticeable Chon-esque math-rock influences in the melodies and it has an occasional prog metal flair with the guitar solos and the eclectic bass performance.
The whole album is written as one long stream of consciousness and intended to be listened to from one end to the other. Usually, when I hear this, I get a sigh of skepticism because I feel as though a band ideally should make songs that are both digestible in pieces and as a whole. Especially for progressive music, I have seen instances where a band or their fans will make the “stream of consciousness” statement more so as an excuse for a band’s lack of melody. However, I am pleased to say that this is not the case with Coevality. This is akin to how I feel about TV shows; I do not think it is a good sign when someone says “You just have to keep watching, it starts getting good around the third season”. Excuse me? I’m not sitting through a show that long to be impressed. It is up to the show both to impress the audience off the bat to keep them entertained, also to make sure it provides some deeper, thematic, and slow-cooked payoffs later to cement its status as an acclaimed show. This is how I often think of albums, and Multiple Personalities exemplifies this well.
This is because all of the songs have their own flavor of the band’s style but also come together as a cohesive picture. “Light Bikes” and “Oceana” are great starting points to see what the average sound is like. They have intricate melodies, memorable riffs, excellent bass/guitar synergy, and drums that shift from energetic to smooth-jazz. “Coin Incidents” and “Cryptic Creek” offer more of the sweet and melodic side of the band with the inclusion of funk interlude and glistening and atmospheric synths. The album’s climax kind of peaks in the middle; either during “Carnival Minivan” with its zealous trumpets and technical guitar wankery, or “MDP” with its 2-minute bass solo.
I will also say that the album has a kind of duality to it because it has mutual value both as conscious, complicated music and as passive background music. When doing focused analytical listening, there is a lot of complexity in the layers of guitar riffs, bass soloing, and smooth jazzy percussion to appreciate. But on the flipside, this is a great album to put on in the background and help the brain flow to get you focused on another task at hand; this is in part due to how well this is mastered and mixed. Whoever did the technical aspect of this album’s sound really played into its strengths by enhancing the bass in the mix to be in the forefront but also softening it up so that it’s sweet, not overbearing. The guitar and drums are also vibrant and clearly audible as well.
Overall, I think this is a great example of what progressive jazz fusion rock can bring us without relying on a saxophone or other jazzy woodwind instruments. Oftentimes bands in the genre use it to sound more "jazzy" but Coevality does an excellent job with the three instruments they use. If you like progressive instrumental stuff, you should check this one out, pronto.
Attribution: https://theprogressivesubway.com/2022/01/19/reports-from-the-underground-albums-we-missed-in-2021/
