Momentous – “Rain” [EP] [Album Review]

So, you wanna be an instrumental progressive rock/metal band? Well, there are a couple of key elements that you have to have on lockdown if you’re tryna hang with the best of ’em….

Momentum is from Austin, Texas, not the first place that comes to mind when I think prog, but let’s take a look at song length. Average song length longer than 5 minutes? Check. Odd track names that don’t seem to relate to the name of the entire work? Double check. Less than typical rhythms? Check x3. Oh, boy. Time to get serious!

The songs on this EP feature a lot of interesting musical ideas. Most interesting of which are definitely the grooves, especially if you’re a fan of counting. However, in terms of songwriting, the lack of musical ideas that can be classified as the “theme” or “melody” of any given track leaves the aftertaste of, “We couldn’t find someone to sing for us,” but that’s not to say that the music doesn’t stand on its own.

When comparing it to the likes of other prog bands who dominate the scene, however, there does too often seem to be a void being covered with trem, picked leads saturated in delay, a texture that would work were there another layer over top to push the song forward. I think the brief vocals that occur in “Seasons Change” make this point even more evident. Having a vocalist, given the guitar writing of this band, could potentially push Momentous to a level where they’d thrive.

All in all, this is still a solid EP with commendable musicianship, but a far cry from bands like Scale the Summit, Animals as Leaders, or Intervals.

Track Listing:

01. Dread Pirate Roberts
02. Marauder
03. Seasons of Change
04. Realms of Possibilities
05. Dark

Run Time: 36:27
Release Date: December 31, 2014

Check out the album ‘Rain’