A grandiose concept piece about human nature, set in the far future on a city sized space ship.
The debut album from Thought Chamber, 'Angular Perceptions', came out in 2007. It featured the song writing and guitar talents of Michael Harris (Darkology) and the vocal flair of Enchant's (now also Spock's Beard's) Ted Leonard. These two men were ably supported by Rob Stankiewicz, Derek Blakely and Bobby Williamson. Critical acclaim followed the album's release, but with other bands like Darkology (Harris' day job), Spock's and other side projects becoming more important, Thought Chamber were set to one side. During the intervening years Michael Harris never forgot about the band and continued to write songs purely with TC in mind. So some six years later Thought Chamber is about to release their brand new album entitled 'Psykerion'.
'Psykerion' is a grandiose concept piece about human nature, set in the far future on a city sized space ship called Kerakryps-One. The ship itself is on a difficult and dangerous mission in the far reaches of space and the story of this voyage is told through the eyes of Avakus, a young boy who watches what is happening on the ship and how its people try to accomplish their difficult task. Over the course of the album Avakus questions his existence and mulls over the future destiny of mankind. Thoughtful, intricate, at times perplexing, 'Psykerion' isn't an album that you can easily digest and get to know in just one sitting. With such complex themes the listener has to invest a lot of their time into what Michael Harris has come up with for this prog masterwork.
So as you would expect with such an involved storyline, it is quite hard for me to tell you about just one or two songs that you should listen out for. So instead please try to imagine a heady brew of prog rock and metal mixed with jazz, AOR and hard rock, topped off with immaculate musicianship, superb vocal melodies and a top of the range production and you will soon be able to recognise the merits of this wonderful album for yourself.
It has been another very strong year for the various prog genres, with many top quality albums released. With 'Psykerion', Thought Chamber have just added another gem to that inventory and it is one that will appeal to the varied readerships of Fireworks & Rocktopia.
Ian Johnson
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