GARGANTULA s a four piece band out of the Bay area formed by guitarist Bill Blair and singer Clifford Dinsmore. 'Infinitasm' is their first full-length album since finding a rhythm section consisting of Josh Barnett (bass) and Andrew LeGrande (drums). Although LeGrande plays on the record, he has been since replaced by Chris Gonzales. Having never heard of this band before receiving this CD, I had no idea what to expect.

I was actually pleasantly surprised. These guys sound huge. They remind me a little of HIGH ON FIRE. Guitars are very heavy and doomy and can be melodic at times. So there are nice contrasts throughout the record. As far as the soloing goes, Blair reminds me a lot of Matt Pike, though not nearly as tasteful. The main downfall of this album is probably his lead playing. The guy has chops, but just chooses to play all over the place without any real rhyme or reason. Also in just about every solo section Blair is playing two or three lead parts simultaneously, and never in harmony. That sort of gets old after the second time. His rhythm playing is top notch however, and the music takes you in many different directions, at times emerging fast and blistering; at others slow and gloomy. There are some very progressive melodic sections that actually seem inspired by Steve Howe and YES. Check out the intro to 'Flytard', which is by far the best tune on the album. Vocally, Clifford reminds me a little of Tommy Victor from PRONG, with a very strong and raspy voice that fits perfectly in this band. I wish the vocals had been mixed a little higher but that might be splitting hairs. There are 11 tracks, of which only 6 are real songs. There are about 5 synth intros/interludes/endings that I could have done without. Other than that, this is a record I would highly recommend. Not a bad first album and I expect and hope to hear more about this band in the future.

- Peters

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/gargantula

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Austral Staircase / Iridescent Wings

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