Cerebus Effect
Acts of Deception
© 2005 Cerebus Effect
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Aggressive odd meter progressive rock.
tracks
- 1 Y
- 2 Identity Crisis
- 3 Dark at the End of the Tunnel
- 4 Illusions
- 5 Of Mortal Constraints
- 6 Operation Midnight Climax
- 7 Nine Against Ten
- 8 Neutrino Flux
- 9 Fine Lines Between Science and Art
- 10 Unconsoled
- 11 W
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Cerebus Effect is a fusion/progressive rock band which can be found recording and performing throughout Baltimore, MD U.S.A. The instrumentation, consisting of guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums, conveys a wide array of harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic counterpoint. All of the instrumentalists alternate between soloing and accompaniment to balance the emphasis musically in the orchestration with vocals on a few tracks. Odd time signatures, aggression, and jam sessions also are well known characteristics which make up this band's vision and repertoire.
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Highly recommended
author: JeffGCerebus Effect grabs you by the neck from the first note and doesn't let go until the very last. Their music is a frenetic, intense and very high energy blend of heavy progressive rock and jazz fusion, played at NASCAR speeds by four exceptionally skilled musicians. Not for the faint of heart are these guys - if you're looking for something tranquil, calming and mellow, Acts of Deception isn't it; but if you want firepower, there's plenty to spare. Highlights abound: for example, check out the quasi-spoken word vocals on the five-minute raveup Identity Crisis, mixed low and just barely keeping up with the explosive rhythm section - it's just about the only way one can imagine vocals being added to their music, and as such is surprisingly effective; or, for even more thrills and chills, there's Illusions, which is kind of like The Ride of the Valkyrie being run on fast-forward through a possessed tape player. On the other hand, Of Mortal Constraints, with its highly melodic bass and guitar solos, does afford a few moments for the band and the listener to catch a breath. The album's centerpiece is the exhausting, yet exhilarating eleven-and-a-half minute opus Operation Midnight Complex, a musical Tilt-a-Whirl ride of epic proportions that again features those bizarre vocals, albeit briefly, between powerful ELP-meets-Dream Theater instrumental passages. As you might expect, the dynamics vary more on this long track: there's even a surprise acoustic guitar solo that sneaks in during a slightly slower part that's also laden with synthesizers and electric piano, and the classically-influenced piano solo near the end of the track is also a nice touch. The band lets up not a whit on the electric-piano and guitar-fueled fusion workout Nine Against Ten, (which also features a terrific bass solo) and then veers into exploratory jam territory on the short but involving Neutrino Flux, with stellar playing from all involved. The beautiful Unconsoled provides another breather with its lovely acoustic guitar, piano and synthesizers,before the disc closes with the angular, Rush-like W, a high-octane affair that bookends the album nicely with the opening track, Y. Fittingly, I have three letters for this scorcher of an album: WOW. If you like high-intensity, no-hold-barred, no-compromises (or apologies) prog and fusion, then you need to obtain a copy of Acts of Deception immediately if not sooner. Highly recommended.
cerebral and challenging – aggressive and intriguing
author: Christopher J. Kelter"Acts Of Deception" for sure. Well, it was mainly yours truly deceiving himself. I was all set to hear harsh metalcore via Cerebus Effect's "Acts Of Deception," but was pleasantly surprised when I heard the complex and invigorating sounds of prog-rock and fusion pouring out of the speakers. Cerebus Effect's music is in fact cerebral and challenging – it's aggressive and intriguing. While listening to "Acts Of Deception" I kept recalling all the times I've heard King Crimson and Allan Holdsworth. These two acts I remember quite vividly, mostly because it was so difficult for me to appreciate it so many years ago. There can be no doubt these two acts have to be primary influences in each band member's collective conscience. There's little in the way of neo-classical noodling on "Acts Of Deception" – which is funny because I actually kind of like neo-classical jamming. However, this disc is heavy on rock with intense progressive and technical approaches being the sound basis for the album's heaviness. But the fusion aspect plays a huge role – at all times the four members of Cerebus Effect are playing their instruments in such a way that they all sound independent of each other but somehow are part of a cohesive whole. "Acts Of Deception" is primarily instrumental in nature. There are some vocals, but they are more for effect rather than a platform for the band to tell a story or share their views. Artwork should not be too much of a determining factor in how one approaches listening to a band, but "Acts Of Deception" features three strikingly different images. These three different images are a clue as to the many tangents that Cerebus Effect pulls together into their music. Good God – these guys are in my backyard! Cerebus Effect are based here in the mid-Atlantic region and "Acts Of Deception" was recorded at Baltimore's Orion Studios (Orion Studios is famous for being the venue of choice for recording and the live setting as well for many progressive bands). If there was any justice in the world a label like InsideOut or Magna Carta would pick these guys up in a heartbeat. Finally, two parallels that I can draw for you as current example of the same kind of sonic territory that Cerebrus Effect cover would be Djam Karet and At War With Self.
essential listen from start to finish
author: www.progressor.netCEREBUS EFFECT was formed some five years ago in the American city of Baltimore. According to the CD press kit, "Acts of Deception" is their first full-length studio album. In the photograph, all four of the musicians look like they're somewhere in their mid twenties, though bassist Mike Galway has been around for no less than ten years, having had time to leave traces in such successful acts as Uncle Gut and Dysfunctional Family, apart from some others. Analysis. Lots of good signs have appeared over the progressive horizon closer to the end of the year. Outstanding albums are falling as if from a cornucopia, so I am forced to reshuffle my Top-20-2005 literally every update, mentally thanking God for keeping our beloved genre alive and evolving. I feel especially happy when I hear an album where the music is both profound and unique. The musicians' technical filigree wouldn't be at the first place, but in the case of Cerebus Effect all three of the elements exist, being inseparably linked among themselves. Besides all of that, the band's horizon is incredibly wide, and perhaps any direction of progressive music is within their grasp. Like cards in the deck, the four basic Prog Rock genres: Art-Rock, Prog-Metal, Jazz-Fusion and RIO are intermixed in their music, not only coexisting well with each other, but also giving way to their various manifestations: from Zeuhl to Techno Thrash and even Metal-In-Opposition, the (excellent) vocals ranging from clear forms to those with distinct Doom/Death intonations. That said, only two compositions come with a true lyrical content: Operation Midnight Climax and Identity Crisis, the former featuring a few semi-growled phrases in Russian, among which I deciphered "grandmother", "grandfather" and "our Russia". As well as Illusions, Nine Against Ten and W, both combine probably all of the mentioned stylings. These five will be ones of the year's finest audio puzzles for the brave and adventurous listener. You will be happy throughout the long process of unraveling them. The music is amazingly involved, constantly evolving, endlessly changing in different directions, with lots of subtle nuances and undercurrents, always leaving you guessing to where the band will move next moment. Identity Crisis and Illusions are the most intense, dark and heavy, the interwoven passages of organ, piano and acoustic guitar bringing even more excitement to the primordially disturbing sound. The other three alternate harsh, dense and more transparent textures, but are never accessible, either. As said, Cerebus Effect can't be subjected to comparison regarding composition and sound, either. Parallels are possible only in the overall sense, on the latent quasi-structural level. Very roughly speaking, it would be like Van Der Graaf Generator, Shylock, National Health, Present, Mekong Delta and Iced Earth in one package. The album's opener, Y, is another gem in the series, being on par with the Five by most parameters. Like each of them, it is also made up of ever-changing arrangements, full of quirkiness, but the music is easier comprehensible, just because it's stylistically uniform: a quasi Jazz-Fusion with distinct symphonic tendencies. The 3-minute pieces: Of Mortal Constraints and Unconsoled, both are built around the beautiful parts of acoustic guitar and piano. The first is a fluid symphonic Space Fusion, and another is closer to Art-Rock. The shortest tracks: Dark at the End of the Tunnel, Neutrino Flux and Fine Lines Between Science & Art each is clearly Psychedelic Rock, even though there is nothing but assorted percussion and some electronics on the latter. By far not as compelling as most of the other compositions, these aren't your typical makeweights, to say the least. Conclusion. Overall, Cerebus Effect's "Acts of Deception" is essential listen from start to finish. As to those having certain suspicion to the impromptu psychedelic experiments, in any case, there are no less than 45 minutes of brilliant progressive music on this album. No one adventurous will go wrong with it!
a true masterpiece of progressive fusion music
author: www.disagreement.netSo they may not look very glamorous on the promo picture, and they also misspelled the name of the three-headed hound from Greek mythology in their bandname, but these little faults shouldn't take the focus from Cerebus Effect's third album, a true masterpiece of progressive fusion music. Coming from a small town in the small state Maryland, on the US East Coast, Cerebus Effect may be far away from the cultural epicentres like New York and Chicago, yet their third album Acts Of Deception testifies that you don't need to be close to big agglomerations to create true art. The nearly instrumental album starts with the seven minute long Y, a fusion rock tour de force that incorporates jazzy guitar lines backed by a crazy rhythm section, emphasised especially by the bass guitar that does a lot of soloing throughout the song. The keyboards alternate between discreet sound carpets and Seventies inspired electric piano sounds with the right degree of nervousness. The following Identity Crisis, one of only two vocal pieces, has a more hectic pace, underlined by the incredibly fast and monotonous vocals that underline the stress in the song. It is here where we first notice a certain Zeuhl affinity, with a staccato rhythm not uncommon from the movement's originators Magma. A short group improvisation brings us the equally complicated Illusions that proves that you can play crazy prog fusion rock in under four minutes. Of Mortal Constraints takes the heat out of the moment, leaving us suspended again in a more laid back jazzy feeling. This is just the calm before the storm, the album's magnum opus Operation Midnight Climax, the other vocal song, that clocks in at over eleven minutes, that shows the band from its most diverse side. Nine Against Ten continues the album in an instrumental fashion, combining military rhythm attacks with the band's smoother mid-Seventies Canterbury prog side. Another group improvisation and a percussive solo number lead into the melancholic Unconsoled, before the genial W ends the album with another highlight. It took me many listening sessions before I had the courage to write a review, so full of details is this masterpiece. The short numbers sometimes don't offer the diversity you find on the CD's longer pieces, and the production of this self-released album also sometimes sounds as if the songs were recorded in the muddy Seventies, but the joyful playing and the technical prowess of all involved makes Acts Of Deception one of the most remarkable albums of the year. Cerebus Effect sound like a tag team wrestling match of Hatfield and the North and National Health versus Magma and Univers Zero. A sometimes surpisingly aggressive rock attitude makes Acts Of Deception much more than just a retro trip, but a true insight into the minds of four extremely gifted artists. Certainly nothing for those who like their music easy, Cerebus Effect are a perfect treat for friends of powerful progressive fusion rock.