Conor Fynes
'Irradiance' - Canvas Solaris (8/10)
If anything can be said about progressive metal, it is that it attracts some incredibly talented and skilled musicians. Suffice to say, Canvas Solaris knocks my socks off on quite a few fronts. A band whose mission seems to be as virtuosic as their instruments allow, all the while drawing the listener in with some more melodic sections. This certainly isn't a new approach for metal bands to take, but I will say that Canvas Solaris has their own defined niche that separates them from other bands of this style. 'Irradiance' is the band's fifth album, and therefore at this late stage, we see Canvas Solaris already as a very matured band. It is not the best thing that this trio has done to date, but its a strong slice of progressive metal that shows that this band is worth more than just playing fast.
As I stated, 'Irradiance' is a more mature outing for Canvas Solaris, and as a result, the music is less about flaunting their skills, and more about the actual songwriting. Naturally, this is a bit of a double edged sword for a band like this. We don't get to hear the same number of freaky tech metal explosions as there were on earlier albums, but there are more melodies, stronger song structures, and other things that are considered more conventionally 'enjoyable'. In this sense, it does feel that Canvas Solaris has jumped on the same wagon as Scale The Summit, although Canvas' style is still substantially more futuristic and technical.
The extremity of Canvas Solaris has been toned down, but I still feel that they maintain the progressive touch to them. There are jazz breaks and Latin rhythms to throw a listener off the course, and as is especially evident on the last track 'Null Proximity', the band still has some of their old tricks to play with. These songs all sound like apples of the same tree, although each has at least one hook, lead, or strange section that will make it memorable. I was admittedly not expecting to find the music so interesting, but one thing that Canvas Solaris manages to do very well is keep their compositions eventful. Hearing such a technically accomplished band writing actual songs is pretty refreshing, and while this is a slightly more subdued incarnation of the band, there are still jaw-dropping moments for the listener to lose their mind to. Canvas Solaris are one of the most stunning instrumental metal bands ever, to be quite sure.