Anomaly

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Ensnared	6:10	Play
2		Do you Believe?	4:44	Play
3		Iconoclast	3:45	Play
4		Seasons	4:37	Play
5		Wolves	5:39	Play
6		The Second Day	5:34	Play
7		The Art of War	3:46	Play
8		The Rain Song	7:39	Play
9		Pictures	3:33	Play

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Description

The following Review courtesy Cynical Sphere
by: Larry Daglieri, July 1999

THE STYLE
Melodic hard rock with progressive tendencies. Anomaly includes a cover of Zeppelin's "Rain Song," done well I might add, and this should give you an idea of what direction the band takes its music to. Mixing in some light Zeppelin, with some Pink Floydian melodies, acoustic guitar galore, the word 'heavy' does not apply here folks. It's 4 musicians doing their thing; creating music. If someone asked me to describe this outright, I'd have to say that it's a light version of what Zeppelin would be in the 90's, with a touch of progressive tendencies...again, with an emphasis on light because of all the acoustic guitar interplay and light electric guitar sounds.

THE BAND
Do the names Sean Malone, Sean Reinart, Jim Studnicki, Jim Dorian mean anything to you ? Well, if not, here is a brief description. Malone just happens to be one of the best bass players in the world. Studnicki is the guitarist and main songwriter. Reinart is the drummer, and Dorian is the great singer in the band. This is a musicians' musicians band; sort of like the light version of what Edwin Dare is. Each musician is a master of his instrument, and like Edwin Dare, the emphasis seems to be on musicianship, and you can easily hear how talented these guys are. However, due to the light nature of the music, you really can't get a total feel for what these guys can really do when let loose. The song structures don't allow for much, if any, improvisation, and the songs are held to basic structures with little allowance for the members to strut their stuff. None of the songs really are geared to showcase the true talents of these individuals, each clocking in at an average 3-5 minutes, and it's a 'song' thing, not a showcase. If you are looking for some letting loose, check out Malone when he was doing CYNIC material.

THE VOCALS
For me personally, this is the highlight of the disc...I understand that Jim Dorian was once a candidate to fill the vacancy left in Kamelot by Mark Vanderbilt, and I would have really liked to hear him sing in that band than in this one. His voice seems to be a little 'unused' with light music, and I'd really like to hear him rip it up within some good prog metal like Kamelot. His voice is very melodic and pleasant, and the guy could be in just about any band, light or heavy and still sound great. He doesn't get much of a chance to showcase the level and range which he obviously possesses, but he's certainly a pleasure to listen to. His voice is very operatic, sounding like maybe a cross between what Don Dokken might sound like crossed with a young Robert Plant, with the softer tones of Roy Khan mixed in. How's that for a voice? That's a basic description, not to be held to the exact voice of those singers. It's the tonal quality of all three that I'm trying to point out. His rendition of "Rain Song" is outstanding, and you'd think that Mr. Plant himself has returned with a voice from 20 years ago to appear on the Anomaly disc; it's quite a treat.

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See more about Jim Dorian at www.jimdorian.com for a photo, bio and a very pro conceptual video with recognizable actors.
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The following review courtesy Edge of Time Metal Magazine
Printed Issues > 12 > Power/Progressive Metal Reviews [A-Z]

ANOMALY
Anomaly
Advance tape
You might have not heard this name but you surely have heard Cynic. Here is the story: Anomaly is the band of Jim Studnicki (guitar) and Jim Dorian (vocals) and they recorded their debut album in July'97 at Morrisound Studios with Scott Burns and Jim Morris. Besides, bass and drums parts were performed by, respectively, Sean Malone and Sean Reinert (both ex-Cynic). As you can easily imagine, we get a sort of technical stuff here. Even more interesting, Anomaly actually create accessible and radio-friendly (!) prog rock/metal.
Self-titled CD consists of 6 songs and 2 instrumentals which all are composed and performed in a very delicate way. It is opened by a brilliant progressive rock/metal song "Ensnared". It's not difficult to get into it from the first listen, but, what's more delightful, with each next listen you discover new subtleties on it. The same fits to the rest of the songs which are quite diverse: from the ballad "The Second Day" (that could really get airplay, no hard stuff here) to heavier "Do You Believe?" (kill me, but I notice similarities to Ozzy Osbourne in choruses) and the heaviest "The Art Of War".
What is fascinating, too, there are no cliches at all. It can be called prog rock/metal but it is, by no means, unordinary. The moral of the story is: many prog bands complain that it is hard to get heard because their music is too complex. But everyone knows Rush and Yes, who write real songs. Anomaly's debut is a very good effort of accessible progressive. (GS)

4 (out of 5)