Indepedent Release
Review by Tony Cannella
Man, there is so much great, diverse metal music coming out these days. It looks like the scene has never been healthier when it comes to the quality of the music. Some killer bands have been releasing some cool music in all genres, sub-genres and categories. This particular band is called Tungsten. They hail from Philadelphia, PA and are a female fronted progressive metal band. Their debut album is called “The Reservoir” and it is the perfect blending of progressive metal and rock and epic metal. I would sort of describe them as classic Dream Theater meets John Arch era Fates Warning meets Iron Maiden backstage at a Uriah Heep concert.
“The Reservoir” features 8-songs and over 50-minutes worth of music. In true prog fashion, several of the songs clock in at over 7-minutes. The opening track “Water Over Stone” begins with a keyboard intro before the heavy guitars kicks in. There is some cool interplay between the keyboards and heavy guitars throughout the CD. “Contamination” begins with an acoustic intro before transforming into a heavy as hell metal number. Lead vocalist Titi Musick (seriously, that’s her name) has a diverse vocal style, ranging from a soaring metal technique to more of a raspy aggressive style, which she uses in this song. This track is also helped out by a great solo and some cool Iron Maiden style harmony guitars. The over 7-minute “Atmos (Masto) Stoma” is next and is great as well. The over 8-minute “Night Wanders By” is huge and one of my favorite songs. “Coda” is a 1-minute musical interlude, before the trifecta of “El Dolor”, “The Opera House” and “The Reservoir” brings the album to a close. The last track is listed at 12 ½ minutes, but it is really 7 ½ minutes. After about 3-minutes of silence an instrumental section ends “The Reservoir”.
It is always fun and exciting to come across a band that I would never get a chance to hear if I did not have this gig. “The Reservoir” is a fantastic album and Tungsten has truly got a winner on their hands. The band has been doing a lot of gigging in the Philly/NY areas, so check ‘em out and give this debut a listen if you get the chance.
Rating – 88/100
Tracklist
- Water Over Stone
- Contamination
- Atmos (Masto) Stoma
- Night Wanders By
- Coda
- El Dolor
- The Opera House
- The Reservoir
Line Up
- Titi Musick – Vocals
- Ben Grossberg – Guitar
- Jeff McCall – Guitar
- Justin Jones – Keys & synths
- Clint Arent – Bass
- JT Wieme – Drums