iOD!NE - Meander

Hear The Track Here

It never ceases to amaze me the contortions some people go through to make up a bandname. I got the name right in the title but I'll be jiggered if I'm gonna do it all the way through this review. iOD!NE (OK, so I lied) is a new name to me from MP3 Unsigned and that's probably more my fault than his/hers theirs... Looks like a band too, although there is a distinct lack of information on their webpage other than that they are Canadian, but they make up for it with some good artwork so that's OK. Anyhoo, whereas other experimental artists write reams about their various influences, iOD!NE (Ed: stop already with the fancy stuff, we all know cut and paste!)lists but a mere one. Bay City Rollers. More mental than experimental if you catch my drift...

Meander is probably more rock than any kind of experimental that I've ever heard of, and some particularly fine rock at that. OK so it's all a bit prog-rock and there is a sickening sense of deja-vu while listening and although I've always had plenty of bile for the genre, I've often had time for some of the musicians who play in this field. After all, these are generally more fluid and polished musicians than most headbangers, and even the slightest drive by listen to Meander will show you exactly what I am talking about. While you are at it, bear in mind that I really, really, really don't like this genre - it always seems pompous and overblown to me.

Aaah, but in other hands....

Iodine (Ed: Yaaay he's cured!!) have lots of things going on for them enabling them to scale the mountain of my predjudice with consummate ease. See, they have a massive ace in the hole, an axeman the like of which you won't have heard much. Certainly this is some of the very best guitar work I have heard in my long, long sentence of reviewing unsigned artists. The song comments section is full of many of the same compliments as I have heaped on their puny shoulders, and many references to Steve Vai/Satriani. All of which should be slamming you upside the head with but one thought - grab this track. Right now. If you have ever been a fan of wonderful guitar players, meet the next generation because it's a meeting I've thoroughly enjoyed, and remember technically I'm a philistine... A seriously good guitar player, encased in the right production, what more could you want?

Rock God. MUST HAVE.