The lights came on, the band members walk onto stage. The small bar filled with about 100 people all raise their arms, shouting as loud as possible, as the members of A Sound Mind, Anthony (vocals/keyboard), Glenn (guitar), Andrew (bass, orchestra arrangements), Kiran (drums, back up vocals), walk up onto the stage. I am there, front row, screaming along.
I first found out about this band when I was innocently walking along Rundle Mall, Adelaide, Australia and they were playing on the street. First time I walked by I thought to myself "hey, thats pretty good music they're playing". I returned later and ended up buying this album as well as 4 tickets to go see them at the gig mentioned above.
This band, plain and simple, proves that there is such thing as hidden talent. Good music that hasn't been discovered yet but really should be.
I popped in the album, and couldn't get enough of it.
Track by track;
Medulla - This is one of those opening tracks thats basically just instrumental or samples to get you in the mood. This one has both, though includes some orchestral in it too. It's a nice opening track, very ambient and dramatic as it builds up. As its not a 'real' song, I won't rate it and begin rating at the next song. The fade out ending blends perfectly into the next song, Empathy...
Empathy - Very soft and ambient intro with some keyboard, that sounds more like a piano for this part. Anthony's vocals smoothly 'slide' in along with the drums and bass. The build up to the chorus is good but also sort of uncreative. It's one of those build ups where the drums play just the kick, then toms come in, then snare and the whole time it gets louder until it gets to the chorus. The vocals that go with it are fantastic though, "Don't let yourself, destroy yourself". The guitar works its way in for the chorus with some nice pads in the background from the keyboard. The following verse has an awesome guitar with some nice palm muting. The overall song structure confuses me but then again I'm no music expert. The vocals and keyboard are probably the things that sound out the most in this and really give the song its appeal and depth. --[3.5/5]--
The Power To Dream - The song begins with a bit of a 'club' song feel to it, fading in with some synths and a kick as well as lots of bass. It follows in and the guitar comes in reminding you that this is rock! There's some awesome palm muting and 'dead notes' from the guitar for the first verse, as well as some great vocals. The guitars really stand out to me through this one and make the song as catchy as it is. The chorus isn't as epic sounding as it should be but that might not be a bad thing because what follows the chorus is definitely awesome. The whole track nearly turns into a dance song with a dance beat, dance bass and synths going along with the guitar for one of the catchiest parts of the album. The song has a good structure, that doesn't leave me confused as to whats the chorus and whats the bridge etc and is definitely my favourite song on the album. --[4.5/5]--
Grace - Ok, so the album's off to a great start for me. At this point some albums break down and throw the more worse songs at us but not A Sound Mind. This one opens with some more piano and some electronic drums. What I noticed was that the bass could be a little louder, so that Andrew can be recognised for his basswork too as well as his terrific orchestra arrangements. The chorus in this one turns up the keyboard and shuts off all the other instruments. There's some great drum fills here and pretty awesome orchestration as well as a great double-time beat to finish off the final chorus. --[4/5]--
Fall For You - Some electronic drums and FX-ed vocals open up the 5th track. A nice beat to go with the piano for the verse. Remember that 'unoriginal' build up drum beat i was talking about in Empathy? It shows up here again, nearly the same one. Some nice orchestration once again, as well as the vocals which hit some nice highs and lows, and some sudden stops in the final chorus. A pretty decent track but it doesn't stand out much from the others except for some of the best vocals on the album. --[3/5]--
Enjoying the Pain - Great orchestration for the beginning, reminds me of Nightwish really. The drums that come in are great and the vocals are definitely the best I've heard on the album so far. Some nice clean guitar and bass to back everything up. That build up.. appears again, alot more then the other songs making it even more repetitive. The chorus has an 'epic' feel to it thanks to the Nightwish-like pads that back everything up throughout the track. Some great palm muted guitars that go along with the double kick of Kiran on drums and another double-beat final chorus that wraps things up great. --[4/5]--
Comma Hiatus - Well this is unusual. I'm quite used to bands having an instrumental at the start of an album, but these guys have one half way through. Sort of like a break from the music. Though if you thought this was the same as the first you're wrong, it sounds like a war march mixed with a nature song you'd see on Discovery Channel. Once again, I won't rate it like the first one.
Venus & Mars - This song sort of jumps out of nowhere after that previous one which blended in so well. The verses are sort of standard by now, keyboard/piano with a beat and bass while he sings. This one has some more great palm muted guitar in it. The chorus is another epic one, nice pads in the background to an awesome riff from Glenn. The song doesn't seem to separate itself from the others enough though and it seems not repetitive, but like nothing new anymore. There's obviously some variation but not enough to hold my interest as much as it should have been held. The one variation that I loved came in the breakdown of the song and a cool ending. Now that I think about it, it does have quite a bit of variation, but it comes in a bit late in the song. It's still a great song either way with, once again, absolutely fantastic vocals. --[4/5]--
So Thankful - Clean guitar intro which is followed by a bit of a slower beat. This song sounds like it could be a mainstream radio hit. The song is, obviously, about being thankful for what you have and how life isn't so bad after all. The song has a bit of a sad feel to it but really its a slow uplifting song. At this point the keyboard and its pads seem to be getting overused, seeing as they're in basically every song. It'd be interesting if there was some more synths or techno-ish sounds instead of the usual pads. --[3.5/5]--
Catharsis - Now this one has an interesting intro. Just what I was waiting for, some unusual keyboard sounds. Sounds like a cross between a synth and a bongo beat. This one even seems to have a .. triangle in it? Anthony and his nice clean voice come in. That build up.. the unoriginal one.. makes another appearance. But all is excused when the other instruments come in for a massive start-stop intro. Leading straight into another epic chorus. It's got the usual pad and some strings (also from the keyboard). The chorus doesn't have much variation from the first verse but you can tell from the guitar, which I realise doesn't come in as a lead enough with the lead being the keyboard again, which isn't a bad thing because it's absolutely fantastic in this song. Despite the fact that it doesn't seem original compared to the other songs, this one definitely stands out. --[4.5/5]--
The Horizon - A great intro with some strings and toms from the drums, the guitar can once again be heard nice and clear in there. Has the basic clean guitar, drum beat and vocals for the verse. The chorus has a variation from the verse and bridge but, not from other songs and feels tried. There's some good strings in here, and the guitar FINALLY takes the lead with a great but I feel like there's nothing I haven't said before that won't fit in here too. --[3/5]--
Always & Forever - This was a song that was dedicated to the family and friends of the band members. The lyrics fit well with this as Anthony sings about not giving enough of himself to them, I'm guessing because of his musical career. The song is just Anthony for the most part, keyboard and him singing, but about 3/4 of the way the other band members join in for the final part of the song. A good and very emotional song and a good final track. --[4/5]--
Harmonia - You'll probably be wondering why the other track was called the final track and thats because this track, again, is an instrumental. When it kicks in it's sort of like the end of a sad movie, and the credits start rolling. And thats how it ends too, making you sort of wish it hadn't.
Some improvements that need to be made: Much more variation, inclusion of guitar solos, letting the guitar lead, giving the pads and strings a rest for a song or two, making the bass louder sometimes.
Otherwise, this is a great album, and definitely shows that there is talent that hasn't been found yet, and really should be.
www.myspace.com/asoundmind
