Reviews
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11/27/2004 MJBrady @ www.proggnosis.com said...

When first getting turned onto this band a few years back, I felt almost priveledged to know about them, kind of the same way I felt when I first discovered the Dixie Dregs way back. Hearing such great musicians doing such clever music was like a treasure, and knowing that few people knew of them almost seemed criminal, yet the real fun part was turning my unsuspecting friends or ever strangers onto them, and seeing there reaction, which typically was that of curiousity and being impressed. How bands like HOG and the DD's could be so obscure and yet so original was somewhat confounding to them. Well it's safe to say that in the case of the Dixie Dregs, they reached a fairly high level of respect and popularity. As for the Helmet of Gnats? Well, I was almost certain that I would never hear anything from them again, being that their only recording was released in 1996. So it is with much pleasure to be announcing to the again unsuspecting public that the Gnats are back, with a brand new offering of their original and dynamic form or progressive fusion music.

There have been some changes from the first cd, both in style and personnel, personnel wise, two new members are in the band, gone are bassist - Nick Defala, and drummer -Nicola Vitiello , and taking up those spots on this cd are: Bassist - Wayne Zito, and Drummer - Mark Conese. Both Guitarist - Chris Fox, and Keyman - Matt Bocchino remain, and both are the key writers of the bands' music. The first Gnats cd had a lot in common with The Dregs and perhaps a few other bands that were experimenting with instrumental prog and fusion ideas, bands like Bruford, Happy The Man, UK, Kensi or even Brand X were a few bands that came to mind in listening to the Gnats, on the new cd, the basis of the music remains squarely in the progressive fusion/ instrumental arena, yet the band has really refined their sound, and pretty much have left most of the Dregs influences behind them.

It's my honest opinion that this was a good move by the band, they are too good a musicians to be compared with other musicians that are simply put, their peers. The Gnats here have made a statement for releasing one of the best progressive related cds of 2004, It's been a while in the waiting, but the end result of the long wait is a cd packed from start to finish with brilliant songs, magical performances, and great production standards, as much as I love the bands' first cd, they really upped things a lot on this one. I know from visiting many prog and fusion chat and message boards around the net, mentioning bands like Bruford (Holdsworth era), Happy The Man, UK, RTF, Brand X amongst others rate very high on the most critical prog/fusion fans lists of best overall, and I would dare those same folks to check this cd out, and for those not familiar with this variety of music, take a chance on this one, you will not be disappointed. ......