PRISMIND
Disciples by Design
(Independent Release 2017)
Written by Tim Duran
10 out of 10
For about a year, I have had the fortune to hear and follow this power prog band from Canada. Prismind (pronounced, “Prism-Mind”) has all the elements of progressive heavy metal that a band can put together, and I would go as far as to say that they are a more insane version of Dream Theater’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. They have a thicker tone, and the manic melodies that surround the listening device have gotten me admitted. PRISMIND is fronted by power vox John Mamone; ultra rad bassist, Justin Faragher; cannon fire by Mike Harshaw; and one of the most technical guitar players, next to Vai and Satch, Kelly Kereliuk. I have seen and heard many a fine axe grinder, but Kereliuk is one of the finest – another true king of the seven string for the 21st century.
As I mentioned above, Prismind has a deranged atmosphere to their music. They suck you in with heavy metal intros and spin your head off with all kinds of musical nuances and mosh worthy rhythms. As a bassist, I am all about rhythm and Justin kills unsoftly with his. His arpeggios match Chris Squire and his scales are like a six fingered John Myung. Case in point, “Our Broken Fate” has such a moving bass line; it’s like everything revolves around the bass riff. He even gets a short (too short) solo in “Void 5:14”.
Speaking of riffs, the intros and all around mayhem of the first two tracks, “Pawns of the Dammed” and “Dagger”, will have you swinging from the chandelier while the tune, “Last Breath” drops some Anthrax vibes on you. True to speed metal, here comes “Time Unforgiving”. It’s less prog as the others, but the breakdown is an exercise for the fingers and the thrash factor is turned way high on this track. “Slaves to the Machine” has an interesting, clean guitar during the second part and an easy arpeggio adding grace to impending doom. “Palace of the Mighty and High” is rhythmically similar with the heavy down strokes, and Kelly even throws in some pinched harmonics for a tension builder. Lastly, “Diamond Eye” is like the anthem for the namesake of the group. Kelly does some house cleaning with all the sweep action in this song!
Downside is moot. Upside is that throughout the whole record, each musician takes the spotlight. The vocals are strong and not overexerted, the drumming keeps the heartbeat of the band at break-neck speed, the bassist is percussive and takes the lead in places, and the guitars are phantasmagorical. This record and work of art was a pleasure to listen to and for me to give my thoughts on. I cannot give Disciples by Design anything less than a ten simply because it never slows down. It’s a bullet straight into your mind with no exit wound.
Check out PRISMIND at www.prismindband.com and www.facebook.com/prismindband
Disciples by Design available now on Spotify, cdbaby, and iTunes
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