WHAT'S NEW IN BLATIMORE? A compilation of Baltimore's Best Progressive Rock CD

Various Artists - What's New In Baltimore?

Artist: Various Artists
Title: What's New In Baltimore?
Label: no label
Length(s): 74 minutes
Year(s) of release: 2001

Tracks:
1) Trephine - Uroboros 7.10
2) Trephine - Toad Face 8.21
3) Kurgan's Bane - Through The Camera 7.10
www.amazon.co.uk/Through-the-Camera/dp/B002H6SA0C
4) Sonus Umbra - Homo Homini Lupus 7.38
www.amazon.co.uk/Homo-Homini-Lupus/dp/B002EG3PWS
5) Dark Water Transit - Atomic Assault On Your Momz 3.23
6) Dark Water Transit - Drenched 3.59
7) Uncle Gut - Without Color 7.51
8) Uncle Gut - 1936 Dedicated To The Memory Of Ietty Stein 9.47
9) Dysfunctional Family - Jupiter 2 4.54
10) The Dark Aether Project - Feed The Silence (new Millennium Version) 9.42
11) Tempustry - Horizon 3.54

Summary:
Baltimore's finest in progressive compiled onto a single disc.

Trephine opens the album with two tracks. The music opens rather quietly, but soon we notice that the band has its darker side as well. In fact, the darker side dominates with its strong riffs on the rhythm guitar. The tinkling of the keyboards only help to darken the atmosphere (like with Aragon). At some points I am reminded of Woodpecker From Mars by Faith No More. The song winds down again and the music is now played through a record player. Soon the music is clear again, but continues in the same playful fashion. A kind of industrial fairyland music. A weird combination. Toad Face continues the line of the music. Disjointed rhythms, a bit amount of variation but in the beginning the band takes it easy this time. King Crimson seems to be the main for this band, although they take the dissonance quite a bit further. There is a strong build-up here with piano woven into the music ending with maniacal laughter.

Kurgan's Bane Though The Camera is also reviewed on their disc. Their sound is an antidote for the previous band, because they take melody very serious. The opening theme is really very nice on the piano, a bit Yanni like. The song itself is symphonic hardrock, but the vocal part sounds a bit mysterious. The chorus is back to the hard rock again. Think Lana Lane and Angels Of The Apocalypse by Mastermind here. The guitar solo is not really necessary here, but the way the music slowly comes back on track is good as is the melodic guitar work right there.

Sons Umbra feature the rhythm section of Kurgan's Bane. The bass playing is more pronounced, the song is built mostly on that and acoustic guitar. The vocals sound a bit spacey, a bit vague if you please.

Dark Water Transit then opens with the disjoint and fragmentary Atomic Assault On Your Momz. A bit too fiddly for me. Follow-up Drenched (live) is less so. Again darkish and dissonant with plenty of variation, but now more fluid and forceful.

Uncle Gut is the next band up. Of all the bands, they have most of the minutes on this disc. Without Color opens very tensely. Then we get some pretty mayhem. Actually, it is hard to keep of thinking of "progressive rock" here, it is simply noise. Good noise, but it will succeed in running most people up the walls or into the curtains. I was reminded of the Melvins here. The second track is a live track. The sound quality is a bit less and the audience gives a noisier feel, but for the rest there is little difference.

Fiddly guitars and a very strong bass presence we find on Jupiter 2 by the Dysfunctional Family. A nicely dissonant piece with some more melodic ingredients as well. A strong groove on this track, but the final part is almost strictly bass and hence rather sparse.

The Dark Aether Project is the lead by Adam Levin, formerly also of Gibraltar. This remake of the title track of their second disc, with smooth vocals by Jennifer Huff and swirling keyboards. The tempo of the music goes up a bit in the middle, but the drumming is a bit too bare. Rather spacey stuff this. The vocalist starts to mumble a bit in the middle, which does not really help. All a bit too long and a bit too vague.

The final track is the Jarre-like Horizon by Tempustry. Very melodic and sounding crystal clear. Strong focus on electronics in this track and with nice results.

Conclusion:
A nice introduction and certainly not one where you'll find much of the same, because the difference are quite large. I liked Trephine quite a bit, Dark Water Transit did not do much for me. The rest are more or less in between.