Alias Eye - Field of Names



1. Field of Names (4:52) 2. Premortal Dance (5:13) 3. Wasteland (5:26) 4. Just Another Tragic Song (6:17) 5. Driven (7:49) 6. River Running (6:21) 7. Hybrid (4:04) 8. Mystery (3:32) 9. The Readiness Is All (5:19) 10. An End in Itself (5:11)

Total Running Time: 54:08




Every once in a while, one runs into an album that looks like one tasty morsel right from the start. The band's name hits a chord, the record's title sounds interesting, and the cover art is highly professional. Not only that, but the first notes to come out of the speakers right after the silvery disc starts spinning only hint at a confirmation of the deliciously exciting anticipation. And just when one sits back, relaxed by the assuring thought that the record in question is going to be worth more than initially hoped for...BAM! Welcome to the world's sad, sad reality.

Or welcome to Alias Eye's debut, Field of Names, to be precise. And feel free to interpret the above paragraph as my impressions regarding the album, because you'll be on the right path if you do so. This is one of those records where one is forced to wonder exactly what went wrong, as the production is richly thick, Philip Griffith's voice is a pleasant, if not outstanding, element of the band's style, and the rest of the band is quite capable of sacrificing flash for texture and composing soundly evolving pieces. Moreover, the album's title track is a wonderful song that achieves an epically mysterious magnitude through its Arabic riff, Vytas Lemke's gently layered keyboards, and an unbelievably good chorus. You guessed correctly. It's also the album's opening song.

Meanwhile, the next two pieces to come up, "Premortal Dance" and "Wasteland," do lower the level of excitement a little bit, but also retain the songwriting skill and melodic chorus abilities to a point where one only suspects a temporary setback. Unfortunately, however, the setback is quite more than temporary. It lasts for the remaining duration of Field of Names in an eventually uninteresting situation that is aggravated by the fact that the least attractive tracks are also the longest.

What is truly startling about the situation is the fact that Field of Names does not sound amateurish, excessively showy, or even mediocre. It just somehow fails to muster up any true interest despite lush vocal harmonies, an accessibly melodic approach, and obvious potential. Perhaps it's a sense of "been there, done that" that corrodes the listener's attention, or maybe its mid-tempo uniformity does get to be a tad tiresome at times, but Alias Eye has unfortunately failed to record a debut album with the true potential of making a long lasting impression on the progressive rock scene.

-by Marcelo Silveyra

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