Thank You Scientist – Terraformer
June 14th, 2019
New Progressive / Jazz Fusion
Evil Ink Records
Montclair, New Jersey, USA
I first discovered Thank You Scientist while on tour with my friend’s band through the American Midwest in June of 2019. Coincidentally we ended up playing in the basement of the same venue that Thank You Scientist were performing at, a little bowling alley in Lakewood, Ohio called Mahall’s, while they were on tour in support of this brand new record of their’s (side not: they were also on tour with Bent Knee who kicked massive amounts of ass). Their sound initially struck me as being very Coheed and Cambria-esque with the addition of horns, strings, synths and theremin to their sound. While I enjoyed their performance I couldn’t get super into it since I wasn’t familiar with them, but I was impressed by their complexity and musicianship. In the van the next day I decided to check out Terraformer, and after a couple of listens decided that I just didn’t “get it”. Then I decided a few weeks ago to give it another shot and I am so glad that I did because this record definitely clicks with me more now than it did then.
As an addendum, I don’t normally do track-by-track style reviews as I feel like those can get a bit tedious. But considering this album is nearly an hour and a half in length I think that Terraformer warrants that review style. So without further ado.
Terraformer begins with the serene synth-laden and acoustic guitar-driven intro of “Wrinkle”, which is a perfect introduction for what this album has in store. Bombastic horns led by Sam Greenfield on the saxophone and backed by Joe Gullace on the trumpet stand at the forefront of this track, immediately grabbing your attention and not letting go. Meanwhile bassist Cody McCorry lays down some seriously heavy grooves behind them while drummer Joe Fadem plows along with driving yet complex rhythms. The track ends with a synth lead that bridges the gap between “Wrinkle” and the following track, “Fxmldr”, the first proper song on the record, which I think is supposed to mean “Fox Mulder”, David Duchovny’s famous character from The X-Files.
The guitars and horns pull no punches on this track, exploding in a series of upbeat, catchy and danceable melodies over Fadem’s tom-driven drum beat. Vocalist Salvatore Marrano makes his first appearance on this track with his signature high register voice, bringing to mind fellow genre greats like Claudio Sanchez (Coheed and Cambria) or Rody Walker (Protest the Hero). The chorus on this track punches you in the face with it’s catchiness but melodically it reminds me more of the sort of thing you’d hear from an emo band back in the mid-2000’s. At around the two minute mark we’re treated to an absolutely shredding solo from guitarist Tom Monda who is joined by electric violinist Ben Karas in leading the song. Greenfield returns again with a gnarly saxophone solo at around four minutes in before the song eventually returns to it’s infectiously powerful chorus. The song ends with a fantastic scream from Marrano before sliding into a heavy prog breakdown bringing bands like Trioscapes and TRAM to mind.
“Swarm” begins with a very Dream Theater-esque series of chugging riffs (rather, back when Dream Theater was actually good), while the vocal melodies are reminiscent of something Karnivool vocalist Ian Kenny would write. At around four minutes the song slides into this salsa-inspired section with maracas and bongos playing in the background before heading into another fantastic guitar solo section from Monda.
As the guitars to “Swarm” fade out and “Son of a Serpent” begins we’re treated to a bizarre trumpet rhythm from Gullace who is joined by McCorry with an equally bizarre bassline. Monda joins in with an atmospheric guitar flourish and the whole part feels a bit strange. When the drums and vocals kick in it makes a bit more sense but the lead-in to this song is one of the weirder and less-appealing segments on this whole record. That being said, the rest of this song makes up for it with some great funky guitar work from Monda and another TRAM-esque heavy prog breakdown following the chorus. There are some particularly emotional and soaring, beautiful vocals from Marrano towards the second half of this track, though the band also incorporates some choir into the mix, giving the song a grandiose ending.
“Birdwatching” opens with some interesting pulsating synths from Monda as Marrano softly sings over them. Fadem slowly builds his drum beat between the rim of the snare and the hi-hat cymbal and the synths grow in scope and layering. Towards the song’s end the synths evolve into a series of harsh electronic breakbeats before everything drops off quietly and suddenly.
As “Birdwatching” ends and “Everyday Ghosts” begins we’re treated to some vaguely oriental sounding plucking on the guitars, some glockenspiel notes and rhythmic claps before the song proper begins. The bass takes center stage once the track kicks in, with McCorry pulling off all these super tight jazzy basslines that groove so hard. The chorus of this song has Marrano singing “Sometimes I feel so ordinary, sometimes I struggle with who I am” against these massive and catchy chords in what is one of my favourite moments on here. The feeling of positivity that radiates from these one section of the record is definitely a standout moment. As the song continues we’re treated to some groovy, rhythmic and syncopated prog sections that carry on for quite some time, reminding me a bit of fellow prog nerds Between the Buried and Me. Monda also rips an insane solo towards the back end of this song that stands out as one of the most impressive guitar sections on the record.
“Chromology”, the only truly instrumental track on here, begins with some seriously danceable grooves that has my head bobbing along every time I listen to it. The entire band is on point here with the composition as each segment flows into the other with ease, with the band having been given the freedom to compose a song that focuses on the instruments alone, with no vocal melodies to abide by. Greenfield gets another moment to shine on here with two gnarly saxophone solos which are complimented by another mesmerizing, shredding solo from Monda later in the track. I’m reminded of the Dream Theater side project Liquid Tension Experiment on this track thanks to the rampant time signature changes, the jazz chords that come in towards the song’s back end and the complex and intricate soloing going on all over the piece.
With the rampant and bombastic shredding of “Chromology” over, “Geronimo” kicks in with some quiet, understated, almost emo-sounding clean guitar picking, before Marrano and Fadem join in with soft singing and intricate snare rolls respectively. The chorus on this thing is so overblown and catchy and gives me a really powerful feeling, especially with the timing of the guitars and drums, and Marrano pushing “Reversing gravity, making your way to heights you’ve never seen before, gratified, there’s no need to comprehend this” out of him with such strength. In the post-chorus the band adopts a bit of an Arab-influenced chord progression, conjuring imagery of a vast, pyramid-laden landscape adrift in dunes of golden sand, before repeating the chorus again and fading out into spacious ambiance.
“Life of Vermin” begins with some interesting effects laden on the guitar before the rest of the band comes in. Some Karnivool-esque guitar strumming adorns the early sections of this song before the band erupts into this dark, groovy and highly danceable segment featuring more Arabianesque melodies, which is one of my favourite instrumental portions on this whole record. The following section is a bit more slow and symphonic than the rest of the album has been, introducing a more epic feeling to the entire cohesive piece. Some acoustic guitar strumming in the post-chorus brings to mind the work of Rodrigo Y Gabriela, and is followed by one of Gullace’s stand out moments, as he performs a stellar trumpet solo over the rest of the band. The song ends with a proggy section that gets faster as the song nears its climax, though it ends with the guitars simply playing the riff once more with no other instrumentation behind them. Personally I felt that the ending of this track was a little anticlimactic.
“Shatner’s Lament” is an ambient interlude that sounds like something you’d hear in a 1940’s film noir, or in some kind of noir-themed cabaret, cafe or bar. The horns on here are front and center, but they’re smooth and sexy, being played over a restricted drum beat from Fadem who uses brushes as opposed to sticks. The song doesn’t last long but as far as interludes go, this one is pretty damned good.
“Anchor” is a bit of a slow burner, starting off slow and quiet before building up to it’s first climax, and when the song explodes, oh boy does it explode. The chorus on here, where Marrano sings “Sorry I can’t take this anymore, I swear, I swear this time I’m getting back to good” hits home, and every time I hear it it’s everything I can do to not sing along. The grandiosity of this track is off the charts compared to everything else that has come before, between the emotional crescendos built-up in the pre-chorus sections and the back-and-forth swaying of the chorus melodies, this track is one of the standout moments on all of Terraformer.
“New Moon” has the most intentionally oriental vibe of the entire record, beginning with some beautiful strings that sound unapologetically exotic, especially when combined with Marrano’s soulful and beautiful vocal melodies. My only criticism here is that I wish this track went on just a bit longer, but it’s a great lead-in to the album’s closing track.
The serene crescendos break away into some of the catchiest guitar riffing on this album with the title track, “Terraformer”, with an appropriate level of heaviness mixed in with the keyboards that are playing the same melodies. The guitars are shredding in a fashion that could best be described as math rock until the chorus kicks in, in which the tone of the guitars on the chorus remind me of the early work of seminal tech metal band SikTh or their ilk in the UK progressive metal scene. The song continues along, plundering through beautiful sections of progressive technical wizardry before finally ending on a syncopated battery of four beats.
For my first introduction to this band I am thoroughly impressed by what I’m hearing on this record. While I didn’t initially get it on that first listen back in the summer of last year, now that I’ve heard the whole record numerous times and have really dug into the nitty gritty of it I can honestly say it’s one of the best albums from 2019 in my opinion. The technical proficiency of the musicians is off the charts, but so is the emotional weight of every track on here. There never comes a point where the proggy and jazzy nature of the music overtakes the importance of good songwriting, as is evidenced by the soulful singing and the passion with which the musicians themselves are playing. The compositions on here are just breathtaking. While the album does sit at nearly an hour and a half runtime, making it a bit of a long listen, I never found myself bored. I was never wishing that the album would just hurry up an end, as it managed to keep me engaged the entire time. If you have the time to check out Terraformer and you’re a fan of bands like Coheed and Cambria, Protest the Hero or Karnivool, I’d highly suggest giving this one a spin.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Awesome
Favourite Tracks:
“Fxmldr”
“Swarm”
“Geronimo”
“Life of Vermin”
“Anchor”
“Terraformer”
~ Akhenaten
Where Strides The Behemoth? 