I don’t know anything about Cognos as a band and they don’t tell us anything, which is fine, but they do give a clue as to their style of music, which they state is a fusion of extreme metal, new age and prog.
This really is an interesting album. A journey through the cosmos blends into a darkened tech prog style. The air always tension, whether it’s electronic waves, whispered voices and menacing guitar work or incisive prog metal structures. It’s like being swept along a wave. “Pharos” alone is an adventure. I thought about the publicity in which the band talk of a “balancing point where Gojira meets Vangelis, Peter Gabriel embraces Coroner or even where Enya converses with Opeth”. I got all of this, but Cognos deserve great credit for pulling off so much action and atmosphere over six and a half minutes. It’s remarkable. “Cometary’s Waltz” starts more epically and technically, and leads us into a dynamic land of technical death metal. Growls intermingle with strange echoing outerworldly vocals, which indeed have a tinge of Peter Gabriel but also John Lydon in his PIL days and Darkane’s former vocalist Andreas Sydow. The vocals make it a matter of urgency while the instrumentalists paint colourful pictures. “Light Years Coral” take us briefly to a faraway place in another mystical world.
The “Plenary Void” which follows builds up to restart the journey. A lush melodic metal rhythm mixes with a mysterious atmosphere. The clean vocalist looks skybound. Technical metal is played. The growler growls. There’s classic metal. It’s a riot of colour and musical experience. All the time it’s mobile. Maybe there’s a bit of Pagan’s Mind about the music and concept of this. Another complex piece “Hierarch” follows. It’s almost like a mini death metal opera, ending in rampant fashion after numerous twists and turns. I didn’t know what to make of “Tririzon”. The Gabrielesque vocalist is in the lead, shouting above the solid block beneath him. The song expands but I didn’t really know where I stood with this one, which left me bemused. Although there is some continuity with the ambient interlude tracks, the songs on this album are independent of one another, although the styles are the same. So “Monolitheor” builds up gradually before the growler enters the scene with a solid rhythm supplying menace in the background. It seems to work when the growler takes the lead. A flamboyant solo intervenes but this song is about dark power and pressure, and barring a brief cosmic wave outro, this is how it ends.
It’s a risk when you package so many elements in as here but the concept is clear and this album flows in spite of its complexity. Whilst Cognos draw from many influences and styles, this is a unique and intelligent work.
(8.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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