Something From Nothing
The proggier side of metal and rock is not always for everyone. Longer songs, deep themes and over-complicated arrangements can sometimes cause a loss of interest. But you know a prog rock band have got it right in an album when it doesn't feel like there's any point that this could happen. Black Market Seratonin in Something From Nothing have created a brilliantly accessible album for both hardened and newer fans to the genre. This is definitely an album for fans of Tool, as the similarities can at time be quite striking, though of course they're nowhere near being on the same level.
The album is split into two distinctive sections. The first half of the album contains five individual tracks of which the highlight is Irons In The Fire mainly because, in a song, it epitomises the sound and feel of this band. It moves from the gentler melodic side to the heavy, sludgy riffs effortlessly. As you make your way through these tracks though you become more and more glad that for the most part, the vocals are kept to a minimum. Musically Black Market Seratonin are sound, but the weak vocals definitely let it down.
The second part of this album showcases a multi-part epic which just raises the game. The five part Something From Nothing takes you on a journey which genuinely feels like the basic plot-line dynamic of any film: a dark and dreary atmosphere at the beginning (Parts I and II) before a big event (Part III) allows it to climax into a happy ending (Part IV and V). Now that sounds bizarre and beer may have contributed to that trail of thought, but listen to it all the way through and you should definitely see what I mean.
Overall then, this is a pretty solid album by Black Market Seratonin. Even if the weak vocals are a bit of a standout, it is clear that musically this three-piece are talented enough to possibly have quite a big future.