Album Type: EP
Date Released: 07/10/2016
Label: Prosthetic Records
The guitars
crunch, the vocals bite, and the band chemistry shines through on each song,
almost as if they know what each other’s gonna do before they do it. A near
perfect record, which for Watchtower, is pretty much par for the course.
“Concepts of
Math: Book One” CD//DD//LP Track Listing
1). M-Theory Overture (3:38)
2). Arguments Against Design (4:12)
3). Technology Inaction (6:20)
4). The Size Of Matter (4:51)
5). Mathematica Calculis (9:54)
The Review:
A new Watchtower record? Well, please, don’t mind if I do! “Concepts
of Math: Book One” combines Watchtower’s
recent digital only release with a brand new song – “Mathematica Calculis.”
There’s so much hard rock /
metallic precision with songs on “Concepts…”
it’s almost like watching surgery from an observational booth, or, watching
engineers and architects create schematics.
This is the record Dream Theater wishes it could make, because it
rides that jammin’ line of just enough rock to satisfy the metal heads and just
enough noodly, technicality to satiate the prog heads. Watchtower nail geometric rock n’ roll with a
calculus bullseye, right on target. And
by god they do. Every time.
My complaint: The record is only five songs. Yeah, I know this is a combo release but Watchtower
needs a new full length, a proper full length.
The first song, “M Theory
Overture,” is an instrumental, and although I generally don’t connect with
instrumentals, this one’s laser perfect.
The second song “Arguments
Against Design” bring vocals into the mix and this is where it gets
interesting. Will the vocals take away
from the mechanized (in a good way) machinations of how on point the band is
musically? Answer: No.
The vocals complement the
music and give it that well deserved metal bite it screams out for. Again, this is where Dream Theater fails and Watchtower
succeeds. Watchtower isn’t afraid to bring
the rock and find a way to properly inject just enough metal to not throw off
the delicate balance of each song. And balance is crucial with prog.
Go too much in one
direction, or the other, and you risk either losing the audience or ruining the
song. Doesn’t happen here. Watchtower gets it. They understand the art as well as the
science required to achieve this. The
guitars crunch, the vocals bite, and the band chemistry shines through on each
song, almost as if they know what each other’s gonna do before they do it. A
near perfect record, which for Watchtower, is pretty much par for the
course. You need to check this out…
“Concepts of Math: Book
One”
is available here
Band info: facebook
FFO: Voivod, Vektor, Spastic Ink, Blotted Science
