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Reviews & Interviews

This page contains reviews that may not have been published elsewhere online (yet), which we can share with you for now. The full lists of reviews and interviews can be found by following these two links to the bottom of this page:

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Background Magazine Review of "Consumption"

Eyestrings released in 2004 their debut album “Burdened Hands”. In my review I wrote that it was not an album for everybody. It was for me certainly a struggle to understand this album. The same can not be said about their second release “Consumption”. The line-up stayed the same during the recording of this album and therefore you can hear that the band has grown a lot musicwise. The musicians must have encouraged themselves and the others to come up with some wonderful prog music. The band moves more and more into the direction of a band which I loved very much, Discipline. One of their musicians is nowadays the bass player in Eyestrings. But I already told you that in the review of the band's first album. The use of more mellotron and great guitar playing certainly helped to compare them with Discipline. Also the writing style and the way of singing resambles a lot. But this can only be seen as a big complement. The “Burdened Hands” album contained two long tracks and several short pieces. This time three long songs are included. During those tracks the band shows that they can play different moods in one long piece. If the band stays together in this unit Iam certain that their next album will contain ever better prog music. This album is already a fine piece of art. So it is only obvious that they get one more star extra compared to their debut product. The next release which involves musicians from this band is the solo album recorded by keyboard player and lead singer Ryan Parmenter. He already wrote music for three local feature-lenght films and his album will probably move into this direction. Most of all will it have not much in common with Eyestrings. But hopefully we can also enjoy another band album in 2006. ****

(Henri Strik for Background Magazine in Holland, December, 2005)

CD Services / Dead Earnest Review of "Consumption"

Second album and I have to say that they've exhibited a certain maturity of playing and composition on this one. The CD ends with a twenty minute track, but for anyone expecting Yes or Genesis or the like, prepare to be surprised, for this band inhabit a much more down-to-earth approach. The track, 'Lifelines', opens with piano as main lead and this carries on with the guitar more in the background while the solo male vocal soars and flies with a sort of relaxed feeling above the melodic mid-paced leads and strong rhythm section. A piece in six parts, it then moves into a much more lurching section with stop-start rhythms and melodies as the vocal interweaves its lyrics around the ever changing musical landscape, moving from mellotron to guitar lead in a heartbeat, then vocals still taking centre stage and quite varied in terms of range and dramatic approach. There follows a much more relaxed section with quiet vocals that then ascend to a more early Gabriel-like fashion while the piano weaves melodies underneath and the guitar soars all around the back of the mix, all quite pleasant and easy going. The next section introduces a synth lead above more attacking guitar riffs and the ever dependable rhythm section, as synth choirs provide the backdrop, with, ultimately, the vocal returning and the softer side of neo-prog showing its colours before it's then on to the more powerful and almost bombastic majestic finale, as the vocals gather strength, then fade, go all hushed and finally take off with the uplifting sounds of the massed ranks of mellotron, keys, guitar and rhythm section, all cruising toward an final halt.

To compare this to any of the greats of the past would be wide of the mark since you can spot the influences but this band play it wholly more original than most, with strong emphasis on the song rather than the instrumental passages. This latter fact is what pervades this album, as it's really quite dominated by the vocals - even the opening two minute track is a song set to a quite sparse backing while the second and nearly twelve minute track, 'Valid For A Week', starts off sounding more like early King Crimson only with more piano. Around two minutes this dies down to reveal acoustic guitar that turns into vocal and piano that turns into prog-rock power as the song moves up a notch amid riffing guitars and strong rhythms, but still that piano taking an obvious role to counterbalance the weight. This track moves through a great many changes in terms of musical setting, pace and dynamics. 'Stagnant' is a five minute ballad with multi-tracked lead vocal while the twelve minute 'Code Of Tripe' (yes, I wondered about that title too - maybe it means something else in the USA!!!) is more like the end track only more progressive and slightly more aggressive - which still means it's more laid-back than most prog albums. With a couple more shorter tracks before the twenty minute closer, this is an interesting album that is designed for anyone with a wide taste in prog who likes to hear something different and distinctive.

(Andy Garibaldi, CD Services/Dead Earnest)

Reviews of Consumption

in English except where noted

Reviews of Burdened Hands

in English except where noted

Interviews