VAUXDVIHL - TO DIMENSION LOGIC - 1994

This one shot wonder from Australia's Vauxdvihl is considered a minor classic in most prog-metal circles. Released in 1994, To Dimension Logic still sounds fresh today, as the album is brimming with technical playing, loads of melodies, and soaring vocals. It's a shame the band disintegrated so quickly, as it's obvious from the sounds on this album that these Aussies would have really made their mark in the world of metal had they continued on.

Much of the music on To Dimension Logic falls somewhat in the Fates Warning/Queensryche school of progressive metal, with perhaps a touch of Dream Theater for good measure. They don't bash you over the head with tons of solos and long improvisations, instead opting for tight, complex ensemble arrangements that really work within the confines of the songs. The guitar work of Frederic Leduc and Fab Gallen weave crunchy and tasty tapestries on tuness like the driving "Comedy of Errors", or the progressive title track with its futuristic keyboard signatures. Singer Stacy Handchild's voice is like a combination of Geoff Tate and Saga's Michael Sadler, and he puts on an impressive performance throughout this CD.

Other tunes like "Philosophia Mosaica" and "Minus Absence" rock hard, much like early Queensryche circa The Warning, or even Awaken the Guardian era-Fates Warning, with crushing guitar work, gymnastic drum fills courtesy of Chris Delov, and complex time signatures. You even get an ethereal and atmospheric power ballad, "In Search of Forever", filled with lovely acoustic guitar and spacey keyboards, which Handchild's vocals effortlessly glide over.

Listening to To Dimension Logic today, more than 10 years after its release, you can almost feel a deep sense of loss that this band is no more. Not too many groups can strike such gold on a debut recording, and the fact that they just faded into the sunset leaves a gaping hole in prog-metal history, perhaps never to be filled again. We can only hope...