Magnitude Nine - Decoding The Soul


Year of Release: 2003
Label: InsideOut
Catalog Number: IOMCD 151/SPV 085-60542
Format: CD
Total Time: 46:13:00

There is something about metal and melodic rock that pulls me in without fail, like there is some kind of invisible magnet in every note of the music, or a subliminal message embedded in the grooves of the CD that calls out to me. It is so straightforward yet filled with more hooks than you can shake a stick at. Magnitude Nine is another one of those bands that once you hear them, you cannot seem to get enough and their songs never get old.

In January of 2004, the band plans to unleash their third album Decoding The Soul. The cover alone will have you transfixed with its ?War Of The Worlds? imagery. The image seems to say ? we are looking for you, you cannot run and hide, and we will find you and then decode your soul to takeover the human race. Does it really seem all that far fetched these days? Who knows? Maybe I am watching too much Star Trek lately.

All of that of that sci-fi stuff aside, the music is outstanding. There are great vocals (Corey Brown), a powerful rhythm section (John Homan-Drums & Ian Ringler-Bass), a guitar player that is ready to take on the world and conquer it with one flick of the wrist (Rob Johnson), and the final piece, keyboard wizardry (Joseph Anastacio Glean) to turn it all into true to form progressive rock. The layer of keyboards always seems to alleviate the influence of the other parts just enough to give a composition more balance and division.

It is nice to see this band is from the U.S., lately it seems a lion's share of the talent is coming from overseas for some reason. I guess everyone is going for the brass ring in the U.S. rather than just deciding to play great music. A magnitude of nine ? maybe they should change the nine to a ten, on a scale of 1-10 they are a 10 in my book. This is a band at the top of their game positioned to break it big, keep your eye on them.

[Yet, Keith rated it at 4 (or 8/10)? also, it appears the band is no more? aside from their MySpace page -ed. Sep 2009]


Tracklisting:
New Dimension (4:31) / Lies Within The Truth (6:03) / Facing The Unknown (5:16) / To Find A Reason (5:28) / Walk Through The Fire (4:50) / Dead In Their Tracks (4:05) / Changes (5:22) / Torn (3:32) / Thirty Days Of Night (3:35) / Sands Of Time (3:31)

Musicians:
John Homan - drums
Ian Ringler - bass
Corey Brown - vocals
Rob Johnson - guitars
Joseph Anastacio Glean - keyboards

Discography:
Chaos To Control (1998)
Reality In Focus (2001)
Decoding The Soul (2003)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin US

Added: November 30th 2003
Reviewer: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck
Score:
Artist website: www.myspace.com/magnitude9
Hits: 1821
Language: english

  

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