Cyrax - Reflections

Cyrax

Reflections

by Matt Coe at 05 August 2014, 2:39 PM

There’s something about Italian Progressive Metal that separates the men from the boys. Take this quintet from Milan CYRAX – founded in 2012, this is their debut album “Reflections” and isn’t your typical DREAM THEATER technically sound or intricate listening voyage. Injecting a strong keyboard element that is very Cyber/ Industrial in nature seems to take material like “Doom against True Hell” and “Thunderlight” into a futuristic, almost robotic laden world – while still remembering that the heart of their style, they are still a Progressive Metal band.

The five-piece know how to make the riffs flow together and inject the little off-time, synchronistic parts that dazzle the musician faction – and as guitarists Antonio Rubuano and Paolo Musazzi comfortably transition between light, atmospheric passages and heads down distortion driven heaviness. Choir vocals open the mid-tempo “Last Call”, and here is where you hear a slight deficiency in terms of the conviction of main vocalist Marco Cantoni. During the softer verses, he does possess multi-octave range capabilities – but I think his pronunciation of the English language hurts him a little bit when he’s not out belting the higher notes.

Based on the amount of keyboards on display (even in the lead break arena), one hopes that when CYRAX performs live they get a keyboardist instead of using a computer to sample the parts. Artists such as RHAPSODY (OF FIRE), SYMPHONY X, and VISION DIVINE are the ones coming to the forefront of my mind with these 7 songs, but again the Cyber/ Industrial elements give them an added nuances away from the typical Progressive Metal band. Favorites include the semi-gallop meets Power swing for “My Kingdom for a Horse” and the aforementioned 6 minute plus “Last Call”.

A decent start for CYRAX, I think their sound has broad appeal for those who like semi-intricate Progressive Metal but strong hooks and diverse, dynamic changes that pull together sonic elements from outside sources.