Polished and exciting take on alt prog rock from Bristol
How exciting to find modern progressive rock bands that embrace current trends whilst paying homage to bygone classics. There's something very late-seventies, end of Prog as we know it, about Flights. But at the same time it has more in common with Fleet Foxes or Radiohead.
Opening track 'The Pretence' is more alt rock radio-friendly and encompasses a lot within its four and a half minutes, although it's nothing particularly new. It's with 'Judge' that the album really starts. Evocative, industrial Floydian lyrics marking desolation and despair sit flatly on incredibly complex melodies which take their alt rock roots and add in an ethereal, ELP-esque touch. Flights are completely comfortable to be moving between all-out heavy prog metal to choral harmonies via as many time, tempo, and volume changes as they can manage.
Their tour de force is 'Stitched to the Bone', where the group go all out with some impressive musicianship that challenges established notions of what intelligent metal should be. The drumming is particularly impressive and used to great effect all the way through the EP, along with breaks and tempo changes. It's refreshing to hear a band that uses the instruments as a group, rather than throwing guitar riffs at the problem and conveniently having bass and drums to back it up. The effect is rather like hearing the group jamming or brainstorming on their own, but far neater.
The synthetically ethereal 'Charity Calendars' is a personal favourite, coming across as a 'Tubular Bells' for alt rockers. Proving that block chords and arpeggios needn't be boring, each sound is vital and carefully layered. 'Wires and Code' and 'The Mapmaker' continue in that similar vein of delicate arpeggios versus heavy rock and understated vocals. It's a unique sound but admittedly not to everyone's taste. The rockers will find the choral moments too light, and indie kids might find the metal intrustive. But it's worth persevering with. The song lengths are reasonable and what they achieve in the time may not be the most accessible, but is genuinely breathtaking.
Most bands would be content to add another ten minutes of aimless noodling and call this an album, but to issue something so complete merely as a debut EP, and as a self-release, shows incredible scope and ambition. If that ambition doesn't end up own its own backside, it could serve them very well.