THANK YOU SCIENTIST | Terraformer | Album Review

Thank You Scientist are one of the more ambitious progressive metal bands looking for attention in a guitar-centered music scene. Signed to Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez' comic book distribution label Evil Ink while also being the musical division's first signee, the seven piece prog rock band are twisting minds and bending their genre once again with "Terraformer", their third studio album. Going into detail about the style of progressive rock Thank You Scientist puts out there is like describing the most complicated parts of astro physics to a typical commoner. Safe to say, this is not the typical hard rock or alternative rock band. You may feel like seven members is too much, but there are more than just guitar and drums to this band's instrumentalization. There are easily noticeable saxophone, trumpet, violin, and even theremin moments heard across the band's entire discography which creates a very unique jazz fusion styled sound. On the band's official website, it describes the 84-minute opus as the "Oops... I Did It Again" of not just the band's discography but of progressive rock music in general. Wow- that is a very odd comparison! But seeing how out of the ordinary the band is, whether it be on a musical front or in their press photos, they can get away with saying that. This band has even claimed to tour with Tim Allen which makes them all the more irregular. 

After a two minute and thirty two second instrumental opener titled "Wrinkle", you are greeted to two of the album's lead off promotional singles, "FXMLDR" and "Swarm". Both of the tracks set an expectation of what to expect across the lengthy runtime for this album. "FXMLDR" kicks everything off on a stellar note and was the first of the three singles. To put it shortly, this is what music is supposed to be. This song is nearly eight minutes and is indicative of Thank You Scientist putting their best feet forward with great musical hooks and wonderful experimentation that varies throughout several points of the song. You get more melodic moments such as after the first chorus and more energized and chaotic moments like the ending where all of the instruments come together to make something that could scare away conventional music fans. Even though there is a lot of variety in "FXMLDR", it stays heavily focused and doesn't let up for its entire runtime, which is hard to do in an eight-minute song. "Swarm" is a bit shorter at six and a half minutes but is just as focused in the musicianship and the hooks which seem to come in endless quantity from the band. In both tracks each instrumentalist does a phenomenal job at blending different styles and lead vocalist Salvatore Marrano's passionate vocal performance is just as varied, ranging from light and melodic to melodically passionate. 

While both songs and even the album closer title track are heavy in essence with a lot of variety and excellent instrumental work that can make you feel something, these three tracks are not the norm of the entire album. Yes, all of them harken back to the sound of the previous two albums in how they approach things, but instead of sticking with this as the go-to style for the album, there is a lot of variety in between the tracks themselves. A total of three tracks from the album get very close to the ten-minute mark with "Everyday Ghosts" actually going slightly past the mark, and they are all cuts that go by in an instant. They're very well paced and in the case of "Anchor", a beautiful cut that plays around with cinematic elements as well as building to a high point, you don't get bored or fretful wanting to hit the skip button. "Chromology" is the instrumental moment of the album where the backing band gets to show off their skills and it's pretty much the same effect. Aside from the super long cuts there are also shorter tracks as well. Most of these are instrumentals and intros to tracks that connect perfectly, but "Birdwatching" is the track that's worth noting in this category due to how it showcases the band's ability to dial things back to a quieter pace instead of being ruthlessly technical eternally. This is truly a project that you can listen to and just get lost in all of the music that is presented to you, whether it be a song that is super short or lengthy. It's like this band is comprised of musical scientists trying to test different music mixtures together, and they all succeed at their experiments. 

This album isn't perfect by any means. There are a few sections of songs that briefly take you out of the experience such as the guitar solo in "Son Of A Serpent" and even sections of "Life Of Vermin", and that's considering that both of these tracks succeed overall. But these lackluster moments are a rare occurrence on "Terraformer" and there is still a lot to take in from every song heard on this album, whether that be typical fare from the band like "Geronimo" or extremely ambitious like "Anchor". It's a band that manages to give you something insanely creative even in moments where they back into the corner that's their comfort zone, and that is difficult to set out to accomplish and succeed at. Call it ambitious, call it pretentious, call it anything you desire, but Thank You Scientist are in their own world when it comes to creating music, objecting to the whims and expectations of simplicity. "Terraformer" is the biggest proof of that. Overall, "Terraformer" is the seven piece band's best album to date. If you want more of the style of progressive rock or progressive metal music that isn't afraid to do whatever it wants while expanding its own palette to add more colors, "Terraformer" is a definitive recommendation for your needs, scientifically or casually.

RATING: 9/10

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