Listening to the first section of the opening track “Chromanic”, made me fear the worst. The instrumental progressive rock trio (bass, keyboard and percussion) Parallel Mind open their debut album with a nicely composed, but rather boring, keyboard orientated track. It isn’t until the excellent guitar solo by guest musician Saar Schnitman that things become interesting, very interesting. Parallel Mind form a solid base, with some nice compositions, but the true highlights are the moments where the trio gets help from guest musicians. The piano section on “Into The Depths” in combination with the classic choir vocals and the delightful bass is very powerful, bringing back to mind the first chapter of the British project Strangers On A Train, and one of the highlights on the album.

The section is a part of the twenty minute epic called “Colossus”, without doubt the best track on the album. No matter how often I play this song, it just seems to keep growing on me. The only negative criticism I can think of is the extensive use of keyboard solos and the fact that the high tones of this instrument are at times a bit dominant over the soft bass parts in the mix. This results in a contrast between the beautiful sections where bass and drums are supported with warm piano and the sections where the sharp keyboards play a dominant role. Parallel Mind is a great addition to the Unicorn Digital label!