Band: Prisma

CD Title: “Collusion”

Label: Galileo Records

Release Date: 2007

Fans of progressive-metal, math-rock, post-metal et-al…heads up…there’s a new band on the block. They’re called Prisma and their first CD release is called Collusion.

Prisma came together in 2001 and from then to now, they’ve kept up a steady performance schedule playing many festivals, clubs and support tours. All of this live exposure has helped the band develop a loyal following through much of Switzerland and surrounding countries. The band consists of four members: Michael Luginbuhl (vocals, percussion), Valentin Grendelmeier (guitars, vocals), Marc Mullhaupt (bass), and Andi Wettstein (drums). Their music has been compared to bands such as Mars Volta and Tool so you get a sense of heaviness AND complexity.

Clocking in at just over an hours worth of music, there are twelve tracks here most of which are in the five-to-six minute range, the longest is seven minutes. The compositions themselves keep within the sub-genre’s accepted parameters in that many of the compositions start out slow and sparse before becoming more and more intense and heavy. There are some songs where this happens quickly such as “Inner Circulation” and others where the build up is quite long such as in “Glide In.” The band makes great use of dynamics. Many of the compositions will percolate along with the intensity just bubbling under the surface; you can almost feel the tension, before bursting forth into a full explosion of guitar driven mayhem such as on “Passion” or “Sield Land.” Studio production is brought into play from time to time adding little bit’s of “ear-candy” to a number of the compositions; little classical riffs as lead-ins or song transitions and a myriad of vocal effects including phasing and filters. Over-all though this is a pretty intense and heavy workout.

As I see it the challenge a band like Prisma has is in carving out a progressive metal sound that is distinctly their own. It’s true that guitar styles vary, but guitar sounds less so. Like so many others in this much-populated sub-genre Prisma rely on a lot of guitar sounds to make their music work, but my fear is that these sounds in and of themselves may not be enough to help perpetuate a sound that is distinctly their own. None-the-less this is just their first release, so it will be interesting to see how the band matures on future releases. That said there is a lot of music here to recommend to lovers of the progressive metal sub-genre.