Customer Reviews

Dark Matter

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fans of old Genesis (I mean OLD Genesis) rejoice. Long followed in the UK, and via imports in the US, IQ makes their first American release in over a decade with the aptly named "Dark Matter". With a set of keyboards purchased from a Tony Banks yard sale, IQ presents a rebirth, or for their fans, a continuation of the "keyboards mixed forward" feel that made household names of guys like Rick Wakeman. Lush sounds straight off your old records leap out at you, including string and flute melotrons, 70's era sound effects, Leslie organ speakers, and did I hear an ARP? The keyboards are complimented by cleanly played drums, and bass, with lyrical, multi-tracked, harmonized, high-sustain guitars soaring overhead. The rapid meter changes and transitions in feel demanded by this project are handled with aplomb. Very nicely done. A couple of songs kind of beat you over the head with repetitive odd meter, but that's a small thing. By and large, the project is very well written, played and produced with excellent musicianship on display throughout. The vocalist reminds me of a young Peter Gabriel, only less smoky and more on key. This guy has a nice set of pipes. Very enjoyable to listen to.

This is a themed project, all about the end of the world, and/or death and loss in general, and/or war and its associated tragedy. So try not to play it first thing in the morning, or just after the end of a relationship. The Lyrics take the form of broken poetry in the grand tradition of progressive rock. The brooding, ethereal, circular words only transition abruptly into straight prose at one juncture, when, during the 24 minute title song, "Harvest of Souls", they take a big sarcastic poke at the United States in plain English. After several listens, you realize that pretty much the whole 25 or so minutes is devoted to a big poke at the United States. It seems an odd move from a purely business perspective. But IQ is obviously entitled to their opinion, and I certainly support their right to dissent and to sing about it. It's what makes our two countries great. So, I'll not toss this CD in the landfill with the Dixie Chicks.

Overall, I give Harvest of Souls a solid B+. It is well played, but lacks originality. You will hear the war music from Yes's classic, The Gates of Delirium, and passages sounding just like Genesis' "Blood on the Rooftops", and tiny, much less obvious "borrowed" licks, sounds, and passages abound. IQ does not seem concerned with moving the art form forward. They could be called, "The Prog Rock Preservation Society." But if you are a fan of progressive rock, particularly, the sound pioneered by Genesis, you will get a big kick out of this one. Welcome back to America, IQ. All the best to you.

This was the first IQ CD I had heard (though I have heard about 4 other songs by them previously), and all I can say is WOW. IQ is not a band that gets any airplay in the US, and even though I am a big prog listener, until a few months ago I never even heard of them even though they been around a long time. After seeing numerous great reviews of the CD on various prog sites and listening to the 30 second samples, I took the plunge, and am glad I did. Its the best new release of 2004. Every song is good, and the musicianmanship is excellent. Particularly good are Sacred Songs and Harvest of Souls. There are certainly some recognizable Genesis influences, but its not a mere rehash of Genesis either. I highly recommend this CD to any prog fan.

Twenty-five years, huh? Why haven't I heard them before? That's a common problem for many of us with willing ears but limited sources of introduction.
This is obviously my introduction to IQ, which was recommended to me on the strength of my interest in Spock's Beard, the Flower Kings, and Porcupine Tree. Since I haven't heard the band's other albums I can only concentrate fully on what's here rather than compare and contrast with previous works.
Here's what I liked after closely listening to Dark Matter a half-dozen times:
1) Sacred Sound; a hard-driving opener. Sets the tone of this prog powerhouse.
2) Red Dust Shadow; mellow yet powerful
3) You Never Will; a brutally honest self-appraisal
4) Born Brilliant; a pounding, driving anthem
and
5) Harvest of Souls; an epic journey that takes the listener all over the prog map.

Looks like I like the entire CD! Now that I have heard Dark Matter, I will take a musical journey through IQs back catalogue.
If you like progressive rock, then Dark Matter is highly recommended. Its one of the best CDs I've heard in the past year!

This is my first CD by IQ. I am familiar with Jadis, Marillion, Spock's Beard, Transatlantic, The Flower Kings, Pain Of Salvation and many others. I have been following the recent renaissance in prog. I run a small radio show centred on prog on a community station. Those are my credentials...

I voted this CD as one of my Top Nine Best Progressive CD's of 2004. It made #2. Proto-Kaw, Before Came After, ranked #1.

My views on this work:

This CD is packed with surprises. While achieving melodic sophistication, most songs refuse to drift into the familiar paths many prog bands trudge. Bravely crafting listenable and yet challenging pieces, the quartet IQ have propelled the realm of 21st century prog into the age of angst. The CD's conceptual message is not so contrived as to give way to a roll of the eyes, but is so significantly relevant that uninitiated listeners to monolithic masterpieces of prog such as the 28-plus minute finale, Harvest Of Souls, will be engaged and at the same time stretched to their listening limits.

Tightly written, intelligently presented and maturely performed, Dark Matter is a CD of layered art. Sublime, this offering by this remarkable band deserves 100 times the attention it is currently receiving.

The sound quality is crystal clear. Inside Out has provided packaging that enhances the experience afforded on this CD.

My recommendation:

Try this CD. If you don't enjoy it, you are not interested in good, solid, inciteful, exhilirating prog.

Dark Matter takes up where IQ's "Seventh House" left off. Moody, evocative, absolutely brilliant at times, and a Prog Rock GEM of an album. Although containing just five tracks, each track, as per usual with IQ latter-day albums, seamlessly flows into the next. The final track, "Harvest of Souls," the longest, is an IQ masterpiece. It contains all of the attractive elements which have made IQ synonymous with quality progressive rock music: powerful and cerebral vocals coupled with melodic but haunting music. Yet, the first four tracks are really vintage IQ material too. Especially "You never will." In short, since buying this album, almost a month ago, I haven't stopped listening to it. These guys are getting better with each new album. "Seventh House" and "Ever" were fabulous works. But "Dark Matter" has taken IQ beyond fabulous into the realm of sublime. Highly reccomended for all those folks fond of the Fish era Marillion sound, Jadis, Pendragon, Arena, Camel, Steve Hackett, etc.

To start off.....I am the old dog referred to in the title. I have been a prog rock fan since the seminal work of King Crimson, ELP, Yes, Genesis (Gabriel/Hackett era), Camel and still consider them the Masters. My music purchases typically were CDs of these classics (to replace my vinyl, well-worn record albums) and I gobbled up the recent releases of these bands or various solo projects by the band members. I was stuck in a seventies time warp.

There were few outlets to hear new and exciting prog rock so it seemed to me that the genre was dead. I was really not finding too many new prog rock bands that tripped my trigger and all still paled in comparison to the Masters. There would be an occasional band that would show some promise, such as Marillion, but with repeated listening I would tire of them.

How wrong I was......I seemed to have missed a whole host of great prog rock bands during the 80s to the present. Just recently, I discovered and enjoyed bands such as Pallas, Pendragon, Arena, Porcupine Tree and others. I thought to myself.....how in the heck did I miss this great music? However the big find for me was IQ!

IQ really pays homage to the Masters, especially capturing the essence of Genesis when it was in the golden era of Gabriel and Hackett. Dark Matter was the first IQ album I purchased (it was recommended through Amazon and I checked some songs out on Progarchives.com which sounded wonderful to me so I made the purchase). Since then I have bought several other IQ CDs and enjoy them immensely as well.

Overall, Dark Matter is my favorite. It captures the spirit of classic progressive rock. I repeatedly find myself relistening to it and do not tire of it. One reviewer had stated that the keyboards sounded like they were purchased at a Tony Bank's yard sale and that really does ring true.....more than any other neoprog band, IQ's keyboards have the feel of the seventies keyboards....I love it.

Why, despite my rave about the CD do I only give it 4 stars? My problem is that I want more instrumental work and less vocals. The vocalist is great, however, there is too much of him. What made the Masters great was their virtuosity and the long instrumental breaks....the keyboard solo of Tony Bank's on "Cinema Show," Steve Hackett's etheral guitar solo on "Firth of Fifth," etc, etc. The musicianship of IQ is great but all too often they get to a musical break and it seems like they are going to stretch out into a long instrumental but then the vocalist begins to chirp in once again. I just wish they would let it all go for a while! It is a minor criticism, but if you are an old prog rocker like myself who cut their teeth on the Masters you know exactly what I am talking about.

Yes....an old seventies era prog rocker has learned some new tricks and I am sure glad I did. I highly recommend IQ and Dark Matter in particular. There are alot of oldtimers out there like me (and young prog rock fans who are wise beyond their years) who will truly enjoy this band and their music....I eagerly anticipate their next release.

i'm a long-time prog-rock fan, and this is my first recording from IQ, and i must say it is extremely well done. the production and muscianship are really supurb, and the lyrics are well written. somewhat reminiscent of 'transatlantic', but certainly original in every respect. i read a review here (i think it was here ...) that seemed upset with the recordings apparent knock on the american way of life in "harvest of souls". i disagree with the opinion of that reviewer, and i see IQ's sarcastic view of america as just that; their opinion. fair enough.
this is a very good recording, and i will wait another day or two to listen to it again; i'm sure my high opinion of it will be enhanced after a few listenings.
peace,
space puppy, out.

An instant masterpiece! I'll leave the technical descriptions of the songs to other reviewers, but suffice to say I had goosebumps from the opening keyboard riff, and this album contains some of the most DELICIOUS organ and keyboard sounds to grace a prog rock record in a long time!

I don't know how these guys keep delivering the same high standard of quality and consistency after all these years, but to these ears, this about tops everything they've done. Dark Matter contains all of the passion, emotion, drama and immaculate production you've come to expect from IQ! There are VERY FEW progressive rock bands that have produced material this excellent THIS LATE INTO THEIR CAREERS! My gosh, just look at their last 3 studio albums prior to this - Seventh House, Subterranea and Ever - incredible!

IQ deserves to be included in the "elite" status of prog bands with this release. Dark Matter is an album that commands your attention, and you won't be able to divert your ears for a second! Soaring guitar lines, killer keyboards, Peter Nicholl's impassioned vocal delivery and thought-provoking lyrics... it doesn't get any better than this if you're a prog head!!!!!

Dark Matter is an album with progressive, symphonic rock with a new, fresh and dark approach mixed with the ingredients that characterizes the music of early Genesis and Yes. Beautiful harmonies, well played and harmonic guitar sounds reminding of the style of Yes' Steve Howe, a pumping melodic bass and well played drums. The keyboardist Martin Orford's playing reminds of Rick Wakeman's; in some bits I can hear resemblances from Close to the edge, in some others just the same type of playing; it's beautiful, harmonic and well played and its sounds fills the music with the sound the progressive music with a new and fresh approach. Peter Nicholl's singing is extremly good, the best I've heard from him so far; sounds like a young Peter Gabriel.

Dark Matter is a mix between the music that characterizes the early Genesis and Yes years mixed with the Promised Land era of Queensryche and the music played by Placebo. And even though I'm not a fan of the latest band mentioned I still find this music extremly good. The first four songs all have something original and fresh and differ from each other. The 25 minutes long Harvest Of Souls that has resemblances of Gates of Delirium with Yes and Supper's Ready with Genesis. It's a song with extremely beautiful music, with lovely harmonies mixed with the aggressiveness that Yes gave us with Gates Of Delirium and the spirituality of Awaken; the one you just should sit down with a cup of coffee and turn up the music and relax. It takes you on a journey through the wasting lives of war to the aftermath of this war and has give you a multidimensional lyrical approach that makes you think and interpret in the way that fits your own life. Highly recommended!

I've listened to two other IQ albums, and this one just kicks those albums into oblivion as far as I'm concerned. "Sacred Sound" and "Harvest of Souls" are excellent epics, but it's the shorter songs that really make the punch. I have been singing "Red Dust Shadow" and "You Never Will" for the past year constantly. They're catchy, moody, and intensely emotional.

Peter Nicholls may come off at first as a Peter Gabriel-wannabe, and there's no doubt that the album follows a similar format to "Foxtrot" by Genesis. But over several listens, this album gains an identity of its own. Michael Holmes' subtle guitar work blends in nicely with the bombast of Martin Orford's keys. This album is a wonderful find and along with Porcupine Tree and the new Neal Morse-less Spock's Beard is one of the true champions of hook-worthy art rock.