Mister Kite - All in Time



1. All in Time (4:12) 2. I Want More (3:39) 3. Here We Are (4:39) 4. Seventeen Years (3:21) The Diary of a Stranger: 5. Part I - Stranger (2:52) 6. Part II - God Knows I Know (6:11) 7. Part III - Another Me (3:48) 8. Rain (4:08) 9. It's Too Late (4:12) 10. Inside (3:48) 11. Soulsaving Sister (3:51) 12. The End Is Near (3:55) The Diary of a Stranger: 13. Part IV - Reflections (4:33)

Total Running Time: 53:10

Fate has a strange way of letting one know things. Sometimes foreshadowing comes in nothing more than the vague form of premonition, sometimes in loud and clear clairvoyance (otherwise known as seeing a car headed straight your way at 100 mph), and sometimes it occurs as an exploding flash just a split second before what has to happen happens. With a raspy voice hurryingly saying "Wake up!" and a scared gasp in return, Mister Kite gives one the exploding flash, and a second later the walls come tumbling down with a thickly layered wall of guitars pushed forward by a thunderous sound.

And while the initial surprise and the following events may not actually constitute a riveting shock to the system à la The Matrix designed to draw the ground from under you and brusquely force you into a whole new world, they are yet another refreshing new entry in the world of progressive metal with a monstrous resonance and metallic accessibility. Not to be confused with the more traditional edge of a Fates Warning or Dream Theater, or the aggressive recklessness of a Watchtower, the music of Mister Kite is instead kin to the modern alternative and industrial movements in almost equal share, tending towards the latter in its relative heaviness and solid distortion and towards the former in its hooks and attitude. Somewhere between The Matrix and The Crow with a subtle progressive bend, a healthy touch of catchiness, and plenty of rocking attitude. Then again, how else could things look for a band with a song titled "Soulsaving Sister?"

Exactly. And what it means is that the listener is immediately treated to an assortment of strong emotional turns, riffs that are often bordering the line between slightly flamboyant and almost bleakly heavy, and a bunch of songs that even your average major record label company CEO would recognize as having some commercial potential, if only people remembered what made this music interesting in the first place instead of being passively force fed Scott Stapp's puppy dog expressions in the middle of the coming of the Apocalypse (there goes my professionalism flying out the window…). The point is…these guys do it with power, conviction, and skill. And while yours truly feels that Mister Kite could still do better and shake away some of the slight hindrances that keep All in Time from being a nuclear behemoth, such as the needless rip-off of Nine Inch Nails on the album's very last track, this is still some good stuff to sink one's teeth into. Meaty.

-by Marcelo Silveyra

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