Faith of Our Fathers

"PhD-holding members of Glimr make new record in a particle accelerator; drink bourbon from Ankle the Mimic's prosthetic leg" slightly paraphrases the hype with which this blazed into view. While I might not have known this was a particle-accelerator recording, I do detect worldly musicians who approach Prog. Rock as a sacred fetish, which occasionally ties them too firmly into that box.

The metallic, accelerative screeches, electronic echoes, and pounding percussion of "Sunburned at Midnight" provide the CD's initial calling card, and the rest of the visit only falters for occasional bong or prosthetic shoe reloads. With some resemblance to Polvo and/or Primus, the impressive, bull's-eye dynamics and time signature shifts on tracks like "Repeat After Me" wouldn't matter if the band didn't build to more gonzo peaks.

Glimr should appeal to fans of the lighter work of King Crimson and Pink Floyd. The catchy "I Know His Blood Will Make Me Whole" could be a hit in a parallel universe where intelligence and "the good kind of weird" are seen as virtues.

• Album title: Faith of Our Fathers (2010)
• Artist: Glimr
• Label: 10 Gev Records
• Songs: (1) Sunburned at Midnight (2) Repeat After Me (Detroit World-Line Intersection) (3) Stitch This, My Stitched Witch (4) The Hatter (5) Where's Your Interaction Region? (6) I Know His Blood Will Make Me Whole (7) Big Sky, Big Night (8) The Group, Rocking at the Point (9) I Will MANIFEST