Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Right from the opening seconds of the new Canvas Solaris, CD Cortical Tectonics, it’s pretty obvious that they’re not making music for the faint of heart. The band jumps right into the math-metal on Berserker Hypothesis, with wildly intricate rhythms attacking from every direction. The first  comparison that came to mind was "Meshuggah," although, on further thought, bands like "Spiral Architect" are probably closer to the mark, as Berserker Hypothesis, isn’t overwhelmingly heavy. Instead, it’s more an expression of a trio of talented musicians building a polyrhythmic beast because they can, somewhat similar to what I think of when that latter band comes to mind.

It’s a good thing, then, that the rest of the album doesn’t follow in the all out, blow your socks off vein of the opening track, instead, settling largely into more of a jazz-influenced mode. Canvas Solaris is immensely capable of pulling off the heavy stuff, and they do it to great effect for segments through the rest of Cortical Tectonics, but the disc is at its best when they explore calmer registers in conjunction with the heavy stuff, following paths tread by the likes of "Don Caballero." At that level, there’s more for a wider range of music fan to enjoy. Canvas Solaris still brings the rhythmic complexity to tracks like Sinusoid Mirage, and the 17-minute album closer, Reticular Consciousness, but it occurs at multiple levels. In doing so, the band proves itself capable of bringing feeling and depth to their music, a whole different kind of complexity that just doesn’t exhibit itself in the unrelenting assault that is Berserker Hypothesis.

There’s an audience for music of this complexity and playing of this virtuosity (Hunter Ginn’s percussion work especially deserves mention), and I’m usually part of it. Somewhere along the line, though, the musical earthquakes produced by Canvas Solaris on Cortical Tectonics, loses me. Still, if you’re into some of the ridiculously technical outfits out there, including the aforementioned bands, or others like, "Dysrhythmia," or "Cynic," you might want to give Cortical Tectonics a shot.