Review by JD on January 16, 2012.

I have been doing reviews for long while now, and I have heard many styles and genres of metal over it all. All of which I still feel the thrill and passion for after so many years of being a writer and a musician. There is little that I have not heard yet, but I still look forward to all of the metal I write about.

Out of the more Death Metal loving country of Finland, comes a Prog Rock/Metal act called Minutian. This is a band of young and very hungry musicians that are setting out to carving out a place for itself in the music world. Playing some very intricate music that seems to be influenced by everything from Progressive icons King Crimson to the heavy sounds of Tool and the newer crunching metal of Mastodon it can be picked out on most of the tracks.

Giving seven songs all of which clock in at around 43 minutes, there is a lot to digest in that time. Intricate off rhythms, shifting time signatures, ethereal passages with very ambitious breaks are the order here. It seems all a good thing, but all of this quickly exposes a band that is doing some inexperienced-caused overplaying coupled with very weak and uninspired vocals. You get an unfulfilled promise of something amazing. Minutian has the talent, but seemed to not know how to implement it.

There is a massive amount of promise to what Minutian does. Maturing as musicians will start that process in the right direction. Backing off on the technical end of the music a little, playing with more of a heaviness and then finding a way to strengthen the lackluster vocal end of things - you could have a group that just might attain the status they are wanting to have. Hope the band does all of this because it would be a waste if they did not.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 8
Originality: 7
Overall: 7.5

Rating: 7.7 out of 10