Sacred Balance

I had the opportunity to review your debut self-titled EP, and was blown away by the concept. - Examiner.com

"Sacred Balance," the band's first release, is a six-song album that has all the ingredients for global success. First, there is this perfect blend of electronic and string instruments, among which the violin plays a prominent — and haunting — part, especially in the last three songs ("Chaos," "The Hole" and "Corrections in Ink").
And then, there is Chloe Charles, whose effortless and versatile vocals tickle your ears and soul on every track.
Actually, Sacred Balance reminds me a lot of Yes and Mike Oldfield. Yes, in the way the band uses music to tell complex stories. And Oldfield, because of its willingness to tread on challenging grounds.  
"Sacred Balance" is multi-layered, surreal, and yet very grounded. It is an artistic experience like no other.    - Cendrine Marrouat

"...fronted by the ever impressive Chloe Charles—no relation to Sister Ray—whose expressive vocals, as always, are gracefully ethereal and worth the price of admission alone." - Jeffrey Morgan's Media Blackout

In the end, the EP triumphs in distinguishing itself from a slew of other Toronto acts. Here’s hoping the band continues to display its penchant for complex song structures coupled with unique vocal deliveries. - Grayowl Point

On rare occasions Toronto and Montreal can get along or work together on something. It is rare, but it does happen. Such a case is the band Sacred Balance. The electro trip rock outfit has just released their self-titled debut album. Founded by Montrealer Pouya Hamidi in 2008 the band began by playing gigs all through Toronto. The lineup of band has changed over the three years with members coming and going kind of like Broken Social Scene. Right now there are five members. The six tracks on Sacred Balance focus on heavy beats and bass. Undeniably original their sound almost sounds improvised or like a jam by the band was recorded. The at times beautiful vocal harmonies, Middle Eastern twinges, and a style of drumming that makes everything else move is quite intense. That reaction makes sense as the band wants to evoke a physical reaction with their music. Ambitious! A cool little detail about the CD is that if you buy it you have a one of a kind. This is because the CD sleeve, which is made from recycled material, is hand painted resulting in no two being exactly the same. - Ocrasound

Independent

Montreal’s Pouya Hamidi and Toronto’s Chloe Charles both have heavy reps within their scenes as avant composer and edgy vocalist espectively. So yeah, quirky expectations were afoot from the moment Sacred Balance formed, although some wondered just how quirky a band named after a sombre work by enviro-activist David Suzuki could get.

So yeah, we gotta be looking at more than electrobeat trance pop. Best news here is that this stuff isn’t as balanced as the title suggests but has its own shade of reckless cool.

The opener is a thing of flair and promise, primal drum stomp, dissonant chords with a delirious femme chorale floating atop, and plenty of fuzz toned guitars to keep it grounded in its Montreal anarcho-pop roods.

Track two is even more pop-giddy but kept from floating off by Hamidi’s sinuous and claustrophobic keyboard/programming work and a slippery rhythm section.

Track three is a highlight, a set piece for the wrecked and wistful cabaret style vocalising of Chloe Charles set against the most shamelessly baroque right outa Phantom of the Opera organ riffs. Abruptly, she’s outa there and sailing into the cosmos on a soundtrack from a lost Lost In Space episode. Funny shit, all very retro-futuristic and it works as edgy trance, if that’s a thing.

The next track starts promisingly enough with mournful violin atop swirling synth patterns and then quickly strolls onto Norah Jones turf and hangs there, content to leave the atmospherics to the instrumentation. Mark this one as a ‘time out’ and move on.

To the second masterwork, Track 5. Here Charles is baying like a multi-tracked pack of wolves, the drum is spare and ominous and even when the piece builds to an orchestral explosion, there really isn’t any closure. Clever, understated song writing, which does not continue on to the next track.

Sacred Balance (the EP) closes out with its least innovative or challenging track. Pretty and all but if you know his work in other contexts, you don’t go to Hamidi for just pretty. Like, we already have Ohbijou.

If this is intended as a ‘teaser’ then mission accomplished. It sure gets your attention. Even so, it could have offered more of the dimensionality we know this crew is very capable of.

Lenny Stoute - Cashbox Magazine

“A musical collective (Sacred Balance) that encompasses an equal mix of electronica, rock, prog, pop, Middle Eastern influences, beautiful vocal harmonies, propulsive drumming, wrapped up beautifully in an energetic brand of music that’s undeniably original.” – Lonely Vagabond, 2010, Toronto. - Lonely Vagabond 2010

This is a powerfully atmospheric journey, spiritual and elegant, illuminating a glowing mystical path. Eclectic splashes of musical colours that drenches your ears like a warm sheet of sunlight. - Lonely Vagabond