Detailed Reviews [The Art Of All - 2007 - "Morgan"]

Prolusion. "Morgan" is the first official release by THE ART OF ALL, a duo from the American state of Massachusetts, comprising Ruben Ruiz on vocals and guitars and Peter Aliferis on drums.

Analysis. This recording is only 31 minutes in length, but contains eight tracks, so if you have already arrived at the idea that it is hardly worth expecting anything groundbreaking from "Morgan", you will lose nothing if you stop reading this review right now, since it would really be stupid of me to argue against your supposition. The EP's sole instrumental, Meet At the Helm, opens the set and does so in a highly ineffective way. There is literally one theme there, just repeated many times, with not even a hint of pace change. The songs vary in sound (their musical saturation being directly linked with their length), but not in style; that is in all cases a queer mixture of Doom Metal, Grunge, Alternative and mainstream Prog. Drummer Peter Aliferis, who is technically more skilled than his partner, feels obviously uncomfortable any time he is restricted within a particular framework, which unfortunately takes place on each of the pieces. All in all, only the longer three tracks, The Ones Among the Rest That Are, The Medium and Burn the Bridge, sound more or less acceptable, though even these leave much to be desired, whilst the shortest cut, Along Our Arms, is so extremely primitive that it arouses no other associations except that of an abortive musical entity.

Conclusion. The rawness of this recording is striking on all levels and makes me perceive it to a greater degree as a demo than as a fully-fledged album. The musicians have to continue working on self-improvement.

VM: October 26, 2007