Psychotic Waltz - A Social Grace (1990) - Patchwork melting pot music - 85% (09/07/11)

Almost anybody gave the highest possible rating to the debut record of "Psychotic Waltz" and that's why I got intrigued by the band. As a fan of progressive rock and metal music I expected something outstanding here. In fact, the band really varies from one style to the other and proves their excellent skills, their multiple influences and their creativity several times on this entertaining record. The problem I have with the record is that the whole thing sounds like a compilation record rather than a coherent and well structured album. Their is so much brain inside this record that there is no place for a heart or a soul anymore. The album sounds rather faceless even though it is technically brilliant.

The band convinces most when they are calm and minimalist and focus on a coherent and convincing structure. The amazing "I remember" that starts as a smooth ballad with some great folk influences and a dreamy flute solo is an example for a truly well done gem on this record. The bonus track "Only in a dreamy" gives us also a break from the harder metal stuff and has some jazz and lounge influences that create a truly magic atmosphere. On the other side, the band surprises us with weird experiments. The bonus track "Successor" is a great space metal track with a gripping and original atmosphere. The third and last bonus track "Spiral tower" is another big highlight with its noisy sound and progressive ideas. The album closer "Nothing" has a very dark doom atmosphere with nice atmospheric sound effects and truly goes nowehere in the end as it leaves us on a weird note. The calm and smooth as well as teh truly experimental tracks entirely convince and work very well together. They are all different but have an original atmosphere that connects them all.

Sadly, the band decided to put some unnecessary technical thrash metal tracks on the record. The opener "...and the devil cried" is boring shred music without soul and makes not only the devil cry. "Another prophet song" has a horrible vocal work and no focus at all but at least teh drumming is outstanding on this weaker track. Songs like "In this place" and "Strange" are often too technical, too complicated, too ambitious to convince and may only slowly open to the listeners after several hard tries.

In the end, this album convinces me when the band put some emotions in their songs and when they try weird but not too strange experiments that lighten this album up and make it easier too appreciate. Too many technical and heavy tracks disturb the atmosphere of the other songs and prove the band's open minded influences and skills but bury the coherent flow, soul and smooth progression of the other songs. This melting pot, this potpourri, this patchwork record simply doesn't work for me even if more than two third of the songs are truly amazing. That's where I must conclude that this album is indeed very good and worth to be listened to but not as perfect as many people claim. Fans of "Symphony X" and other bands of the same vein should though check this very popular and inspiring album out as a very particular kind of progressive sound has been for the first time fused and created on this record.