Yes this band only put out one album, has to be close to 20 years ago. I had this when it first dropped, it's a great prog metal album from beginning to end. The vocalist always claimed they were active and more music was coming, but it never materialized. This is a true prog metal underground classic, hidden gem. Probably out of print. Thank you digital music collection. And thanks Brian for your videos and not only the time and effort you put in, but the stuff you choose to react to, stuff a lot of people haven't heard and in many cases bands that have left a huge impression on my musical tastes over the years.
@biorythmicshifter
8 күн бұрын
This is a desert island pick for me. Top 10 metal album of all time. It’s disheartening to know this will probably be the only album these guys release because the immense amount of work it takes to construct SA material. When these guys were young and had no responsibilities they could dedicate an enormous amount of time and energy creating such densely composed music. A work of pure unadulterated genius.
@williamcozart8158
9 күн бұрын
Holy shit. Was my reaction to the song.
@Defaultis_hit
8 күн бұрын
That bass harmonic break it's hands down my favorite part of the whole album
@kevinmadden3396
10 күн бұрын
I probably mentioned this on the last reaction to SA, but I was SO lucky to see them live in concert back in 2001. This album remains in my top 10 of all time. The singer, Øyvind Hægeland, and drummer, Asgeir Mickelson, just put out an album under the name of Terra Odium that everyone should check out. The record is called Ne Plus Ultra.
@GuilhermeLPC
9 күн бұрын
Fountainhead, Moving Spirit, Cloud Constructor and Insect are my favorites from the album. In that order.
@AtmosphericKing
10 күн бұрын
Bro, this reminded me a lot of Spastic Ink!
@dis.infectant
10 күн бұрын
Makes sense. For the time they were basically a Watchtower worship band, with a Psychotic Waltz dead ringer on vocals.
@kevinmadden3396
10 күн бұрын
Lest I forget, Øyvind Hægeland (vocals), Asgeir Mickelson (drums), and Steinar Gundersen (guitars) all played on Scariot's 2007 release "Momentum Shift." Lars K. Norberg (bass) guested on one track (a cover of Death's "Symbolic"), so I guess that would be a full Spiral Architect reunion, minus one guitar player (Kaj Gornitzka).
@Elmothefuzzle
10 күн бұрын
god I loved Scariot so much
@kingIgor
10 күн бұрын
Have u heard Terra Odium - Ne Plus Ultra (2021) almost the exact same lineup as Scariot - Momentum Shift
@Elmothefuzzle
9 күн бұрын
@@kingIgor I'll check it out!
@mvunit3
8 күн бұрын
@@kingIgor Yup! Excellent album! Øyvind told me himself about it :D (back when I was on Fb).
@DumblyDorr
10 күн бұрын
Man, it's been ages since I've listened to this.... what a flashback. Still liking it! P.S.: I think you may need Panzerballett in your life this week ^^
@almarhulsegge1859
10 күн бұрын
So obscure, such a gleaming gem! 💎 . I happen to have a burned copy of it from waaaay back, haha. Haven’t listened to it in ages, but today I will! Great reaction! ❤
@davidbonar5190
10 күн бұрын
i hear them between spastic ink and queensryche :)
@samuelhernandez1081
8 күн бұрын
Great band 🤘🏽🔥🤘🏽 try Terra Odium I think there’s some of the members from Spiral Architect
@dimitriid
10 күн бұрын
5:20 gotta love that Portrait of Tracy quote he sneaks in there
@OriginalMrocco
10 күн бұрын
Oh i forgot how much i love these guys
@dis.infectant
10 күн бұрын
I haven't heard this in forever. This track kind of leveled me though. They were obviously heavily indebted to Watchtower. The vocals always sounded like someone doing a straight Psychotic Waltz rip, and the lyric phrasing came off as forced at times. Regardless, I'm about to give this record a revisit.
@rijntje73
9 күн бұрын
I still tend to want to pull the faces Bryan pulls on his first listen. I keep returning to this masterpiece on a regular basis.
@kingIgor
10 күн бұрын
Started this week off with 2 Avant Prog Metal Bangers, very Cool This band is phenomenal I’d place them between Psychotic Waltz, Fates Warning, Cynic, Loudness... and Steve Vai (Solo) while still sounding like themselves... Great Composition... Complex Chaotic Beauty... Melodic is in the ear of the beholder... Spiral Architect is a Black Sabbath song...
@mvunit3
8 күн бұрын
Hmmm . . . have you heard the 2nd album by *Watchtower* - "Control and Resistance" (1989)?
@Coinmancer
10 күн бұрын
I’ve been waiting for this one! Love your analysis. The vocals are definitely less common now but if you listen to the timing and style it’s definitely not the run of the mill high vocals. He does some very odd things too and you really need the music for the timing and tension I love Phrygian , not sure if it’s the origin but before I knew theory I found myself playing e minor all the time as that is the main key of metal, but then I found myself playing without any flats or sharps but still keeping the e as the tonal center and I am in Phrygian So basically it’s only one note change from Eminor, removing the sharp. Probably just how I found it but it sounds great! That bass is fretless and sounds amazing… I personally feel it’s the best bass on any metal album. I also feel like the more you hear it… the more you love it. You hear new things and it’s shockingly melodic and predictable after a few listens but it’s also my favorite album so I am biased :) There is a new band the singer\guitarist released recently. The band is called “Tera Odium” and they are interesting to for anyone who likes the vocals and guitar and technical style.
@jonathangeiser1265
10 күн бұрын
Awesome review! I love the bass on this album.
@progperljungman8218
10 күн бұрын
Great track! Except the vocals bounced off of me a bit. Especially liked the ending. Very enjoyable reaction and analysis.
@Coinmancer
10 күн бұрын
They are really strange , they are really strange and abrasive at times. I can definitely say it takes getting used to. Oddly enough only other singer that sounds similar is in the band “Psychotic Waltz” and the drummer of PW who used to run a record store in San Diego, introduced me to spiral architect.
@dis.infectant
10 күн бұрын
@Coinmancer Psychotic Waltz. Exactly. Obviously just done on purpose as homage to an influence.
@educostanzo
8 күн бұрын
Wow, not really my jam nowadays but I'd go crazy for this some years ago. It's like Fates Warning meets TSOP-era Death with some Cynic on top.
@mvunit3
8 күн бұрын
Forgive, I just never got this comment, as I've seen it before; "Wow, not really my jam nowadays but I'd go crazy for this some years ago". . . . . Why not now? :P I mean, I'll be 61 years old this week. I've got more bands and various genres in my head than I had when I was 25-30 (and open to much more these days!).
@CriticalReactions
7 күн бұрын
I'm in the same place as @educostanzo, there are some bands and/or genres that don't sound good to me anymore. I like to think of our musical (or any artistic) tastes not too different from our taste buds. When I was a kid I loved box mac and cheese. As an adult I find it to be overly salty and doesn't actually taste anything like cheese. I feel the same way towards a band like Adema. As a teen I spun their first two albums over and over. Today I find it a bit cringy and lacking depth; though rarely nostalgia does get me to play them again. It may be that whatever educostanzo enjoyed in this sound years ago isn't what they're seeking in music today. And that might revert over time where they cycle back to the sound in another decade. I don't think it's too odd that our tastes can fluctuate with time. Some sounds stick with us, others get shed.
@mvunit3
7 күн бұрын
@@CriticalReactions Great explanation actually! :) There is a difference with me in that regard - as a pre-teen, I actually liked Disco music. When I moved back to California, and reached to my friend at that time, I was really "goofy" about this so-called "discovery" of certain types of bands in that genre. He responded back saying something like; "I'm not really into all that, these days I'm listening to AC/DC". So he became a "Rocker" and listening to AOR/FM Radio. That kinda' shook me up. Basically the Disco phase faded away from me. This was the summer of 1977 - 2 things "Changed my Life" that year; Star Wars (being a kid that drew Hot Rods, and now was starting to immerse myself into Sci-Fi/Fantasy and wanted to be a Conceptual Designer as a career) and *Kansas* - "Point of Know Return" album, it made me realize what music could be as I would dive into the _deeper cuts_ (much like what I had previously done with my Dads faves, especially Santana). Slowly each year after, I became a Rocker, a Progger, and then in 1980-81 became a Metalhead as well. I never really went back to "Disco", I can still listen to a few track/hits, but with ease I could go back to ALL the 1960's/70's Pop Hits, if it was cheesy or still held-up as great song writing, AOR/Rock and most of the Iconic bands and albums, and still go back to those 1st 5 Santana records that were brilliant as I listened with new ears (as well-as the Beatles, especially the 2nd half of their catalogue). And _Point of Know Return_ is still in my Top 5 fave Kansas albums and in my Top 10 Prog albums of all time. My music tastes got heavier, more open to "esoteric" music, more moody, a bit avant-garde (thanks to a love for Jazz/Fusion and Gentle Giant & King Crimson) technical/complex, Classical music and Soundtrack Scores. But Rock, Progressive Rock, Metal (and eventually Prog Metal) and "melody" stayed with me, and I took in almost all the subgenres of Metal. Never was a Rap/Hip-hop fan or modern R&B, but "Funk Thrash" (before "NU Metal" which I wasn't a fan of) appealed to me because the melding of the genres worked for me. Or Rap _augmenting_ vocal musicians I listened to (contemporary vocalists and the few New Wave/Alternative artists I liked). I still enjoy these musics, not as nostalgia but because they had longevity. I'm pretty open to a lot of music but in those genres that are my daily bread and butter, I'm never bored and I always look forward to something new :). . . . . I never really took to "AC/DC" though :p. Maybe older "Krokus", the "High and Dry" album of Def Leppard, and the Udo era of "Accept". But yes, I get you both a bit; Taco Bell, Coca Cola and Dr. Pepper don't taste like they did in the 70's 🤔
@progrockplaylists
9 күн бұрын
i didnt have to look it up whether this is prog or not
@Elmothefuzzle
10 күн бұрын
GOATed album. so inventive
@janeg6759
10 күн бұрын
I enjoyed that a bit on a first listen.
@DumblyDorr
10 күн бұрын
Isn't phrygian just generally a metal thing (not just a prog metal thing), because of the minor 2nd on the root note, which has this really menacing feel when played low with powerchords or tritones
@CriticalReactions
9 күн бұрын
(Focusing on just the metal genre) Technically yes but I don't hear it in general metal too often which is why I associate it more with Prog Metal. I'd love for it to become more common across all of metal's sub-genres though.
@DumblyDorr
9 күн бұрын
@@CriticalReactions Hmm... I haven't verified this, but it feels like a lot of metal is aeolian - but also very often flattens the second degree in riffs, making them technically phrygian (though of course that doesn't mean that chord progressions are taken from that scale). This is certainly the case for bands like Metallica, Megadeath and many (other) Thrash bands. Phrygian dominant is used less frequently, but does occur - same with double harmonic major (perhaps most famously in tracks like "Wherever I May Roam" by Metallica).
@CriticalReactions
9 күн бұрын
You might be right about that. I'd have to do some digging to see how often aeolian does pop up in metal. But something else to consider is that metal likes to work with pentatonic scales too so bands could technically be working with aeolian or phrygian modes but removing some of the "flavor" that makes them immediately noticeable.
@cgo7395
10 күн бұрын
This band only put out 1 album?
@Coinmancer
10 күн бұрын
Yes unfortunate just one album, and two additional tracks. One is a cover of fates warning on the Japan release and one other song on a metal compilation album in Europe . Check out the latest from the singer/guitarist though called “Terra Odium” I think it came out last year
@paololorenzi3396
10 күн бұрын
@@Coinmancer has perhaps the vocalist worked with other bands? I remember hearing similar vocals in the past but can't recall which were the name of the songs
@matthewcouture6325
10 күн бұрын
The singer and the guitarist are in another band called Twisted into Form. It's the closest to the spiral architect sound that I have found. They have one album called : Then Comes Affliction to Awaken the Dreamer
@Coinmancer
10 күн бұрын
@@matthewcouture6325 cool I have not checked them out thanks for the heads up!
@Coinmancer
10 күн бұрын
@@paololorenzi3396 probably but I never found any that sounded like spiral architect.
@captainhindsight5903
9 күн бұрын
Fun music
@mvunit3
8 күн бұрын
It's funny . . . I've had this album since the day it debuted (2000) as I worked at a Tower Records in Santa Monica and bought it because what it said on the card slip on top of the jewel case "A Thinking Man's Metal" and the cover Art. The 1st track just ASTOUNDED me and I became an instant fan. I listen to the album and by track (on various themed playlists) regularly, so its always fresh on my mind. The "Sensory" label (see Laser CD, the owner is often a guest on Sea of Tranquility here at Yt) was pushing out a LOT of Prog Metal at that time. But its so _normal_ for me to hear music like this now, as *Watchtower* - "Control and Resistance" (1989) had me more than ready to search for more (and pretty limited until 2000 when it started to boom - but Meshuggah was also ahead of its time, but didn't discover them till 1995). The band is made-up of members of various Black Metal bands and other subgenres, so I guess this was an outlet to do something more progressive and complex. Vocalist "Øyvind Hægeland" is a big fan of Fates Warning (and on the Japanese edition, there is a bonus track of "Prelude to Ruin"), Watchtower, Psychotic Waltz, Cynic, Queensrÿche and bands of the like, so I can hear bits and pieces of those bands in SA, but more-so Watchtower as in style ("Math Metal"). I've said many times that Bassist "Lars K. Norberg" is the Jaco Pastorius & Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen of Prog Metal (when he is more of a Black Metal player, but his chops go WAY beyond as you all have witnessed), and you can hear it even more on the SA track; "Insect" (which I still haven't watched your 1st Reaction to, but will after this) and the whole band is just insanely talented on . . . heck, the whole album is a complex masterpiece. Yet Øyvind can sing melodically over it all effortlessly (much like John Arch & Ray Alder on the more complex tracks of Fates Warning, and Alan Tecchio of Watchtower). Other bands I'd recommend, which a couple have been mentioned (all with _mostly_ melodic vocalists) . . . Watchtower Spastic Ink (both from the mad scientist/guitarist "Ron Jarzombek" of Blotted Science) Psychotic Waltz (the more complex tracks are on their debut album) Sieges Even (their debut album) Memento Waltz Twisted Into Form (members of Spiral Architect and Extol) Linear Sphere (kind of a thrashier type of vocalist) Alarum To-Mera (if "Nightwish" and "Spiral Architect" had a baby! The guitarist "Thomas MacLean" was the original _Bassist_ for Haken) Aghora Control Denied (Chuck Schuldiner's band after Death) Fates Warning (the more complex/technical tracks on albums "No Exit", "Perfect Symmetry", "Darkness in a Different Light", "Theories of Flight" and "Long Day Good Night") Arch/Matheos (certain tracks on their 2 albums. It's basically Fates Warning with the original vocalist John Arch. 2 of my most favorite albums in Prog Metal) Beyond Unknown Terrigenous Suspyre Disillusion Zero Hour Andromeda (especially the debut album) Sun Caged (certain tracks on each album) Pain of Salvation (certain albums, especially the 1st half of their catalogue) Fractal Universe And . . . Øyvind's other bands: Manitou son.IC Terra Odium Probably a few I'm forgetting. I'd add 3 playlists but the Yt algorithm will probably delete my comment. I'll try to do so as a reply so see if they show-up. - Thanks again for featuring the more obscure bands!
@Pirates_of_the_Underground_I
8 күн бұрын
Well . . . Seems my Playlists didn't take :( So please look-up *Melodious Progulus* and parts (these 3 have the more complex/technical Prog Metal): VI XI IX And the previous and parts after can be found in the descriptions of each playlist. - I hope this stays-up and all enjOy! \m/
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