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The following review is from pages 96-97 of the latest issue (#31) of Progression Magazine - available at your local Tower music store news stand: The Dark Aether Project: Feed The Silence (CD, 51:57); Dark Aether DAP2. It took about eight minutes before I was convinced that Dark Aether Project was onto something with their second disc, but convinced I remained. They open with what sounds like a sample from an old atomic-bomb scare documentary, out of which comes a heavy wave of wind. A Floyd-ish keyboard figure emerges, then leaves as, even more in the Pink, guitarists Adam Levin and Yaman Aksu play a wonderfully spacey duet, one flanged, the other more pointed, sustained. Aksu switches to Hammond organ, Brian Griffin kicks in with nicely restrained drumming, and by this time I'm blown away. This is - forgive my colloquialism - some serious shit. "Nightmare" has Levin dragging a Warr 8 String Touch Guitar loop across a "Not Fade Away" riff variant, in a lumbering dance groove that supports strong melodies, and a compelling vocal line sung by Ray Weston, ex of Echolyn. "Stages" cites _Three of a Perfect Pair_-era Crimson, but takes the influence into some interestingly different areas over its near nine-minute length. The band's ability to balance written material with kick-ass jamming fervor is very apparent in this piece. Warr loops are back on "Building the Worm" as Levin provides some beautiful space for he and fellow Warr Touch player Markus Reuter to land on, circle each other in a pas-de-deux of wild serenity, and end with a touch that'll take your breath away. Convinced yet? Weston's voice gets a marvelous showcase on the title track, with imaginitive vocal writing, and some hair-raising, Jim Morrison-like screams. _Feed the Silence_ also shows the band to be very adept at developing long-form compositions, with a harmonic distinctiveness and sensitivity to mood that recalls the late-1960s West Coast band Love. A nine-minute, live bonus-track, "Out of the Dark/Dark Aether" (I love a band with a theme song) opens in outer space, wah-wah'd, fuzzed out, and all but strained through a Leslie. Around three and a half minutes, there's a tantalizing hint of a move into tempo, but drummer Brian Griffin delays gratification for a while, finally ushering in a huge bass figure around which the loops bob and weave. The performance ends just as it began, Aksu and Levin sparring, circling, throwing flames of electricity at each other. The tune also shows that these guys can reproduce their studio genius with satisfying accuracy onstage. Dark Aether Project hits a lot of progressive rock pleasure points with _Feed the Silence_, but make no mistake: this is not another derivative band with little new to say. They are there, Bud, and this is an absolutely fabulous album. Go for it. - Larry Nai --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Feed The Silence" as well as The Dark Aether Project's self-titled debut are available from purveyors of fine music such as The Artist Shop, The Laser's Edge, New Sonic Architecture, Of Sound Mind, Syn-Phonic, Wayside/Cuneiform and ZNR Records. For distributor contacts, sound samples, full concert schedule, venue directions and more info, visit http://www.DarkAether.Net/