Isolation Chamber – Grind Textural Abstraction. (1996 USA). Isolation Chamber is the nom de plume of guitarist Mike Chlasciak. On first glance, this would appear to be yet another guitar hero album in the Malmsteen/Vai/McAlpine genre. I’ve never been a fan of the million-notes-a-minute show off display, and I take the stance that most folks who DO like this kind of album are also musicians (real or imagined). But Isolation Chamber is much more than that… here amongst the million-notes-a-minute, you also get a variety of riffs to play against, keeping it interesting throughout each piece. But even more impressive are the experimental bits thrown in here to offset the onslaught. Strange voices, musique concrete sounds, industrial percussion and Spaghetti Western haunting acoustic guitar sections are all part of the Chlasiak formula. I’d put Isolation Chamber in the same category as Ron Jarzombek and Fredrik Thordendal – i.e. modern metal guitar innovators. I’ve had this album since it came out, and I have yet to tire of it – always a good sign.

Morse Code – La Marche des Hommes. (1975 Canada).
Morse Code – Procreation. (1976 Canada). I really don’t have a whole lot to say here about Morse Code, a band that I knew surprisingly little about, despite their albums being readily available in the used record bins throughout the 1980s. I did pick up “Procreation” back then, liked it but didn’t listen to it much, and it didn’t inspire me to tackle the debut (I’m not counting Morse Code Transmission here, as that’s a completely different era and sound). Apparently “Procreation” was hyped in the day as the French-Canadian equivalent of “Foxtrot” or “Close to the Edge”. Best not buy into that, but I can say they parallel pretty closely with what was going on in France at the time, like the music of Pentacle or the debut of Carpe Diem. I do want to call out, however, these ProgQuebec reissues, as once again they’ve done a splendid job of providing legitimate re-mastered editions, with relevant bonus tracks, histories, unique insight and unseen photos. Essential buys for fans of the Quebecois progressive rock sound. (They also reissued their 1977 album “Je Suis le Temps”, which I haven’t heard yet.)