:: SONIC PULSAR ::
: Out of Place Reviews :

Review by Jamina

Es gibt erfreuliche Neuigkeiten aus dem Hause Flores: Die portugiesische Band SONIC PULSAR um den Multiinstrumentalisten Hugo Flores bringt mit „Out Of Place“ ihr zweites Album an den Start. Für Gesang und Djembe hat das Trio diesmal Gastmusiker eingeladen, die Drums wurden jedoch wieder mittels Computer eingespielt. Wenngleich ich zugeben muss, dass das nicht unbedingt auf Anhieb herauszuhören ist, da der Sound allgemein ohnehin gewohnt spacig und elektronisch daherkommt. Die musikalischen Vorbilder und Ähnlichkeiten sind nach wir vor dieselben. Spacerock meets Metal, Prog Metal und Elektropop. Gary Numan und Vangelis spielen Dream Theater, Symphony X und Depeche Mode. ‚Out Of Place’ und ‚Burning Inside Me’ stehen soundtechnisch etwa auf dem Level des Vorgängeralbum „Playing The Universe”. Etwas spacig und unfertig klingend, Gesangsplitterweise den Hosenkneifer-Hardrock der 80er imitierend (‚Burning...’), aber ordentlich rockend. Schwächster bzw. anstrengendster Punkt der Produktion ist ‚Shizophrenic Playground’, das die Überleitung zum eigentlichen Konzeptteil des Albums darstellt und dem Titel alle Ehre macht. Der Untertitel ‚Nightmare’ beispielsweise steht für einen wilden Alptraum aus rasendem Gitarrengefrickel. Hut ab vor diesem Tempo – großartige Technik, wenig Seele. In der zwischengeschobenen Ballade ‚I Always Knew’ erinnert Hugo Flores an den einstmals großartigen Sänger Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran). Das Herzstück von „Out Of Place“ ist das gut 44minütige ‚A Chain Of Action’, unterteilt in 17 Teilpassagen, in denen Themen wie Außenseitertum in allen Facetten und Schattierungen durchleuchtet werden. Wilde, ausladende Gitarrenriffs greifen in ausschweifende Keyboardkaskaden, Melodiebögen zwischen Hoffnung und Verzweiflung schwankend, der Gesang wechselt zwischen sanft, verträumt und melancholisch bis aggressiv aufbegehrend. Hugo Flores und Carlos Mateus ziehen einmal mehr alle Register ihres Könnens und loten ihre Möglichkeiten, Variationen und Kombinationen sehr geschickt aus. Die Verzahnungen zwischen Prog Metal und spacigem Ambient funktionieren fast noch besser als bei ihrem Debütalbum, wirken auch noch eine Ecke eigenständiger. Insofern ist SONIC PULSAR eine gelungene Weiterentwicklung zu attestieren. Es wäre schön, wenn sie den bereits eingeschlagenen Weg weiterverfolgen und vervollkommnen würden. LG, Jamina - Read it here!

Review by Progwalhalla

SONIC PULSAR-OUT OF PLACE (****) - Dit Portugese trio (aangevuld met enkele gastmuzikanten) heeft me zeer positief verrast met dit album. Ik had al diverse lovende recensies gelezen en kan alleen maar concluderen dat deze terecht zijn. Want Sonic Pulsar staat als een huis en de composities klinken overtuigend, vol knappe soli, breaks en verrassende wendingen. Hun muziek valt onder de categorie progmetal maar niet op zo’n irritante ‘toonladder-acrobatiek’ manier! De ritme-sectie speelt zeer dynamisch en vaak stuwend, de zanger heeft een krachtige en volle stem, de toetsenist gooit er een gevarieerd geluid uit (van zweverige toetsen en mooie piano tot flitsende synthesizer riedels en bombastische klassieke orchestraties). Maar het meest opvallend is toch wel het gitaarspel, wat een geweldige soli: snerpend, huilend, bijtend en regelmatig wah-wah, deze man is een kanjer! Hoewel Sonic Pulsar vaak stuwend en heftig klinkt heeft men ook gezorgd voor de broodnodige rustpunten middels akoestische slag gitaar, zweverige toetsen, een mooie spacey string sound en zelfs stukjes met panfluit. De speelduur is vrij lang (zo’n 70 minuten) maar wie houdt van boeiende progmetal zal zich hier uitstekend vermaken, deze Portugezen hebben internationale klasse! Progwalhalla 2006 - Read it here!

Review by Nuno Lourenço from PROGNOSIS

It feels good! It really does! For several reasons, this new album by Portuguese talented guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Hugo Flores’s brainchild Sonic Pulsar makes me sheer for the new generation of my country’s progressive music. Released by Mellow Records, Out of Place only comes to prove what I have said in a prior review for this bands previous album: the talent is here for everyone to take notice and the support from a renowned label would eventually take Sonic Pulsar to boost its way to a whole new level. And so it is! Though the album starts with two tracks that demonstrate only one of the many faces of this band, namely the more direct and immediate one, the album does takes many twists and swirls into very apart grounds that, nevertheless, never sound forced or unnatural. Both the title track and Burning Inside Me are powerful, guitar driven tracks, with a substantial standard structure, in song format, that, though interesting, do not by any means compare to what’s next. In fact, I’m afraid they will mislead the casual listener to make wrong first impressions. For me, the album really gets airborne with Schizophrenic Playground, where Hugo Flores and his mates Carlos Mateus and Nuno Ferreira start furthering their trips into a very peculiar mix between Guitar based Prog-Metal, Space Rock, New Wave, Neo and Symphonic Prog. From this moment on, the album takes on a sort of futuristic mindset that is perfectly corresponded in the music and its complex architecture. The aforementioned track starts with sci-fi inhuman vocals and atmospheric patterns upon which an edgy guitar soloing is developed. The piano and keyboards keep it on the melodic paths while the distorted guitar unveils a darker side. This is very complex stuff, and rewarding too, as the instruments take turns at the centre stage in stunning rotativity. Obviously, like throughout the whole album, it’s the metallic riffage and soloing of Hugo that mostly stands out, though the other instruments subtly (or more than that) participates in the architectural drawing of the overall musicality. The more challenging tracks are interluded by calmer ones, like the Space Rock interludes Intro and Ghosts of the Lost Planes or, in other style, Always Knew, where Sonic Pulsar takes a dive into the ballad side, a place that also has no secrets to Hugo, as he has been showing in prior works. In this just mentioned track, I would emphasize the Piano work, which adds beautiful melodic lines. I Heard of a Place Called Earth and Solitary Star edit, in their ten minutes duration each (curiously, both have the exact same time, clocking for 10:07 minutes), the whole palette of SP’s musicality, as both travel throughout most of the entirety of this bands flanks. They start with a calm ambiance, just to be transformed in powerful swirling tracks with diverse velocity gears that explore both the Technical Metal paths and the Symphonic/Spacey/Melodic sensibilities of the band. Doing perfect justice to its name, Instrumetal is an instrumental track very much dwelling in the realms of technical Prog Metal. Sometimes approaching the great instrumental moments of Dream Theater, but also of the Portuguese colleagues Forgotten Suns latest release, this track simply smokes! IMO, one of the best (if not the absolute best) of the entire album! Moving Engines has some more futuristic basing sounds that vaguely remind me of Ayreon, though the music itself moves totally in an opposite direction. Not as overtly complex as some of the prior tracks, this one presents us some of the best Piano melodies of the album, as well as various vocal layers that simply sound great. It is another of my fav tracks here, as it continues the mix of more laid back, melodic lines with more powerful ones (though never reaching the borders of the Metal tendencies shown in the other tracks), but all done with very good taste and crafted enlightenment. The ending Time Has Been Broken follows the policy of Hard Prog with some Neo-Prog and slight Sympho reminiscences, but as it revisits the structures and style of the first two tracks in the album, I am not as convinced with it as with its preceding tracks, except for the instrumental parts, where the band shows, once more, its true potential. To conclude, Out of Place show us a band in continuous evolution, experimenting new paths and felling completely comfortable in doing so. And with a great label behind them, the talent can be properly supported and guided in the right direction. This album is way better than Playing the Universe as it is more consistent and cohesive. And even if its not perfect, it is good enough for me to rejoice with it…and I am sure that the next will even be better. So while I am eagerly awaiting for SP’s next step, I will water my mouth with the solo Hugo Flores project called Creation that features great friends of mine as guest musicians… So, in two years time, the release of Progressive albums in this small Western European country has boosted into unprecedented marks, as Tantra, Miosótis, Forgotten Suns, Mispel Bellyful, Atlanthea, ptRocker and now Sonic Pulsar all have released from enjoyable to absolutely fantastic albums, making me believe in the total success of this second coming of Prog music in my fatherland. So it feels good! It really does! Nuno Lourenço 11.07.2005 - Read it here!

Review by Vitalis from PROGRESSOR

Prolusion. "Out of Place" is the second album by the Portuguese project, SONIC PULSAR, which was formerly a duo of Flores and Mateus. Their debut outing, "Playing the Universe", was released two years ago. Analysis. The newcomer, Nuno Ferreira, is an excellent, truly professional bass player, well matching with the project's founding members, whose mastery, by the way, has notably matured since their debut effort. "Out of Space" is a major step forward in comparison with "Playing the Universe". The positive changes touched every aspect of Sonic Pulsar's creation - the composition, the arrangement, the technical skill of each of the musicians, their joint performance, the sound quality et al. Gone is the huge resemblance between them and Eloy, and only two songs here: the title track and Moving Engines (both representing modern Space Rock at times bordering on Space Metal) contain some traces of influences of the band's benefactor. There are no really weak tracks on this album, though two of them: the affirmative ballad, Always Knew, and the plain spacey music instrumental, Ghosts of the Lost Planes, sound both rather trivial and traditional, especially in comparison with the others, the aforementioned two included. The CD is too long in general, so their inclusion was unnecessary in my view. All of the other, still unnamed, seven compositions (and they run 55 minutes) are excellent, full of original decisions and innovative ideas. Another short instrumental piece, Intro, is both coherent and eventful enough to be regarded as a full-fledged composition and is an apt intro to the following track, done in the same style, Space Metal with distinct symphonic tendencies, which, in turn, is the album's primary style. It's spread on the five longest tracks on the album: Schizophrenic Playground, I Heard of a Place Called Earth, Solitary Star, Time Has Been Broken and Instrumental, ranging from 7 (the latter two) to 10 minutes (the first three). The first and the last of them are instrumental compositions, distinguishing from the other three by almost exclusively fast and intense maneuvers and a very dense sound (I'd say it's like a wall of sound). There is no lack of large-scaled instrumental arrangements on the songs either, and they are also richer in separately developing soft symphonic passages, provided mainly by piano and string ensemble. The remaining composition: Burning Inside Me is almost free of keyboard patterns. This is Space Metal in pure form, though musically, it's as diverse, complex and mesmerizing as the previously described tracks, i.e. most of the material. Conclusion. Quite simply, "Out of Place" by Sonic Pulsar is one of the best Space Metal works I've ever heard. Highly recommended. Only don't confuse this style with a heavy Space Rock, whose brightest representatives are Hawkwind. Pulsars, Quasars, unlike poles...:-) VM: Agst 5, 2005 - Read it here!

Review by Gabor from ANGELFIRE

SONIC PULSAR ‘OUT OF PLACE’ (MELLOW RECORDS) The Portuguese Progressive Rockband SONIC PULSAR returns with a new CD. There are only a few Portuguese bands active at the moment, but happily they are all bringing forward some great quality music. TARANTULA is probably the best known band, but also SONIC PULSAR, a band formed around guitarist-vocalist Hugo Flores. Musically the band is calmer than DREAM THEATER, but heavier than IQ, so you can fit them in somewhere between, and that’s when a band like ARENA comes to mind when hearing some of SONIC PULSAR´s material. The 12 songs form together a sort of storyline, because each song is divided into several different parts. Without a doubt, this CD is a great high quality album which should be checked by every Progfan out there. More info at: http://www.hugoflores.com (Points: 8.3 out of 10) Gabor - Read it here!

Review by Duncan Glenday from SEA OF TRANQUILITY

(Pontuação: 4.5 / 5) Sonic Pulsar's previous album Playing The Universe was very good. Out Of Place, however, elevates the band into the big leagues. The new record retains the band's “Spacey-Metal” sound - an interesting style that ranges from regular progressive metal through hard rock and on to a heavy, ambient, spacey sound with occasional electronica, moody effects and well-enunciated voiceovers.  But it's far more complex than the previous effort, with tighter composition and a fuller sound, and despite presence of two guitar virtuosos this album is less dependent on fretboard gymnastics. Most of the 11 tracks are broken into sub-parts, and they're unified by the theme of someone feeling 'out of place' and dreaming of himself as an alternate being, in a different world.  Very spacey. Portuguese Hugo Flores is the principal motivator behind the band, and on this CD his collaboration with bassist Nuno Ferreira and guitarist Carlos Mateus appears to be tighter than it was on their previous release.  Our review of Playing The Universe made reference to the programmed percussion.  There's still no drummer, and although the programming is more effective this time around, it still can't replace the real thing.  Flores again provides fairly well sung vocals, in a lightly accented mid-range.  Josepha Mario contributes occasional female vocals which sound wonderful, and Sonic Pulsar would be well advised to use her more often. "Schizophrenic Playground" is a 10+ minute, 5-part instrumental that starts off with an intro that could have been lifted from Tangerine Dream, and quickly develops into a guitar / piano driven piece.  It alternates between Flores's frantic distorted solos and an elegantly simple piano line that floats over the top of a controlled metallic chaos. It is the piano that defines this and several other tracks (like "Moving Engines") - not because it dominates, but because of the stark melodic contrast it provides.  "Instrumetal" is a very similar piece, driven by an aggressive guitar, and the standout track "I Heard of a Place Called Earth" is another 10-minute 5-part mini-epic with vocals and a far more 'progressive' structure.  To follow the storyline, keep the track listing with you.  It helpfully spells out the starting and ending point of each sub-section, and the titles make it easy to follow. Out Of Place falls somewhere between Ayreon and hard rock.  Lightly metallic, very technical, well constructed and characterized by good melodies.  Well recommended. Duncan Glenday 17.08.2005 - Read it here!

Review at Feedback Fanzine

This is the second album from Sonic Pulsar, a project put together by multi-instrumentalist Hugo Flores where he has been joined by Carlos Mateus (acoustic guitars) and Nuno Ferreira (bass). There are obviously live drums on the album but I can't see it stated who played them, while Hugo provides everything else. This is an album that has been polished, honed, so that everything fits in place and while "Out Of Place" is reminiscent of classic Rush that is only because the production is so spot on, with complex melodies and bombastic drumming all combining with a powering solo to create something that is both intense and engaging all at once. While the guitars are a main point of focus, so are the keyboards and Hugo obviously is at home on both. Themes are discarded, then returned to, so that the song seems to be sweeping around the listener and I soon felt that I had been gathered up and was being taken on a journey -one that I was looking forward to. This is definitely prog, but with a feel that is quite unlike what normally thinks of the genre as Hugo stretches the limits. He is one of those guys who is happiest when producing music, and this isn't the only project that he is involved with, but this is his main aim and certainly this is an album that grabs the listener in. The only way to play this is quite loudly and let the rest of the world disappear as this is intense, yet creative, and dynamic and thundering all at the same time. It is very modern and discards most of the 'normal' prog influences yet is prog through and through, with an emphasis on the rock side without ever turning into metal. There have been other release and one wonders how they stand up to this one, as this is quite wonderful. www.hugoflores.com Feedback Fanzine