UNIFIED PAST – Shifting The Equilibrium (2015)
Based in Syracuse, New York, UNIFIED PAST is a veteran band of skilled musicians which have very quietly crafted seven stellar albums in their few decades of existence, and their new, “Shifting The Equilibrium“, sees Grammy award winning vocalist Phil Naro (D Drive, Billy Sheehan Band, Brian May, Peter Criss, Lou Gramm, Carmine Appice, and others) joining the band, taking them to soaring new heights and ready to take on the world.
Unified Past style is essentially a brand of muscular, melodic progressive rock plenty of great melodies and some awesome playing. Yeah, when I saw Canadian Phil Naro will be aboard, I knew “Shifting the Equilibrium” would be something good, really good.
Naro joins a cast that includes band leader & guitarist/keyboard player Stephen Speelman, bass player Dave Michelson (who also plays with Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna’s Chief Big Way) and drummer Victor Tassone (melodic rockers Corvus Stone).
Seems Unified Past have absorbed influences from such acts as Rush, Dream Theater, Yes or Savatage, but also a hard rocking pulse akin Zebra, delivering a sound that’s big on beefy guitar riffs, shimmering atmosphere, and hook laden, emotional vocal passages.
Naro has a very powerful, varied voice, and you can instantly feel his presence in the band on the opening cut “Erasure Principle”, an aggressive rocker that floats between straight prog and hard rock.
“Smile (In the Face of Adversity)” is a darker, moodier number, with bubbling synths, massive guitar crunch, tricky rhythms, and commanding vocals, the band throwing in just enough complex interplay to keep those serious prog fans hooked in (and hard rockers entertained).
The more acoustic and symphonic “Etched in Stone” brings nylon guitars and sumptuous keyboards into the fray, before Speelman tosses in some tasty lead guitar solos and heavier riffs, while the menacing “Peace Remains in This World” is perhaps the more ‘riffage’ song on the album, complete with some wild guitar/keyboard exchanges that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on an early ’80s Kansas or Styx album.
The band gets to really strut their instrumental might on the wild “Deviation From a Theme (Of Harmonic Origin)”, as complex guitar, bass, keyboard, and drum melodies weave around each other, the spacey atmosphere meshing perfectly with the heavier passages, making this a must hear for any fan of Dream Theater.
The CD closes out with the Yes influenced “Today is the Day”, a vibrant, melodic prog gem that shows off Naro’s full range, supported nicely by alluring synths and majestic guitar work.
It’s a fantastic epic to close out this wonderful album.
As good as this album is, the icing on the cake is of course the gorgeous artwork from the always dependable Ed Unitsky, who has also worked with notable acts like The Flower Kings, Starcastle, The Tangent, and many others.
The addition of Phil Naro has really taken Unified Past to the next level, and it’s time for the world to realize the talents of this great modern progressive hard rock group.
Highly Recommended.
01 – Erasure Principle
02 – Smile (In the Face of Adversity)
03 – Etched in Stone
04 – Peace Remains in This World
05 – Deviation from a Theme (Of Harmonic Origin)
06 – Today Is the Day
Phil Naro: Vocals
Stephen Speelman: Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
Dave Mickelson: Bass
Victor Tassone: Drums
BUY IT !
www.cdbaby.com/cd/unifiedpast13
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