We saw it before with Circles, and now previously instrumental outfit Intervals are taking their slice of the pop-flavoured prog metal pie with an album that introduces the vocals of ex-The Haarp Machine chappy Mike Semesky.
If the thought of You Me At Six bred with Meshuggah has you wanting to retch, hold your lunch. A Voice Within, while Dreadfully djenty in places, has more in common with Protest the Hero than any chugging riff machine or even ambidjent (yes, - hat is an actual thing) groovers like Scale The Summit.
With unorthodox ideas like the lounge jazz of Moment Marauder or the post-rock guitar-play on Atlas Hour, not to mention Mike’s soulful croon - a pleasant break from the growls that often accompany tech - there’s enough here to encourage Intervals’ entry into an already saturated market.
The sublime twinkle of instrumental track Breathe reminds us that Mike is not necessaryto exalt their music, he simply adds another dimension, yet the spinetingle brought on by The Self Surrendered’s huge choral singsong is a sure sign that magic can happen when you inadd a larynx to an instrumental hotbed
