The Age of the Universe

Is this three-piece trio set to be the next big thing in Rock “n” Roll? I believe so! Sounding like MUSE back in their prime, THE AGE OF THE UNIVERSE bring back this old style to the present with energetic and lively songs that’ll leave you wanting more.

Everything from the tone of the guitars, to the voice of Isaac clearly shows how MUSE was most likely the leading influence on this band’s style. The high pitched vocals of Isaac Reese are very reminiscent of Matt Bellamy, which I feel makes the songs sound epic yet smooth to listen to. Whilst their songs may be chaotic in some places (such as in the beginning of “Alive”­), this album is very easy to get lost in and drift away. A perfect example of this is in their song “Far from the sun”, which is also my personal favourite of the album. At a tempo suitable for slow dancing, this melancholic song may leave you in tears, yet it’s beauty must be listened to right up until a climatic moment about three minutes in where the song epically explodes as you feel the passion in Isaac’s voice.

Other songs such as “Questions” remind me heavily of how DEFTONES currently sound with their newest record Koi No Yokan. Enrico has done a brilliant job in creating drum scores that can alternate the mood of the whole song. Whether it’s in a slow and soft song such as “Questions”, or a fast and chaotic song such as “Alive”, he always finds a way to bring something interesting to the table. Then again, the same goes for the rest of the band. There is some very intelligent song writing going on here, an album that has definitely impressed me.

For an album I was unsure about to begin with, I can safely say this is one for the books. Hopefully they can continue to produce such quality material over the next few years, I am excited to see what they can bring. - Metal Temple.com

This trio from Washington, DC has released their debut album by themselves and it sounds like it could have come from the days of the big record labels, and from the ‘70s until now in style. You can hear the sounds of the different decades in the songs, sometimes a few decades mixed in one song. The epic, sweeping and powerful sound is a real treat from a new band.

Full of soaring vocals, hammering bass, drums, and a wailing guitar all mixed with cool effects, Singularity is a journey into the stratosphere that carries you with it. The basis of the album is rock, and this band rocks hard and tight on the faster songs and really shows the skills of the players. There are some nice mellow songs like “Far From The Sun,” “Spanish Eyes,” “Question,” “Dreams Of Tomorrow,” and the mix of heavy and mellow on “Singularity” that really give the album a nice texture and a chance to just drift with the band like you were listening to a ‘70s trippy album. The band is very capable of throwing in a touch of the Psychedelic Furs “Like a Stranger’s” chiming guitar work on “Believe” and then pound the hell out of their instruments in the same song and making it work.

The band gets your head bobbing, your ears happy and you feel like they are taking you on a very cool trip away from your problems, and that my friends makes for a great listen. If they can keep things going, they will be headlining large venues where you can barely see them, get in on the ground floor while you can. (Rick Ecker) - New noise magazine

When seeing the band similarities in the subject line – Dedg, Muse, and Queens of the Stone Age – you could only imagine the excitement leading up to listening to Singularity by The Age of the Universe. Singularity is the debut effort by this up and coming band who view themselves as an uncompromising cocktail of punk, alternative and psychedelic rock – a mixture between the likes of Pink Floyd, Muse and Black Sabbath.

The album kicks off with “Alive.” It’s a driving, wild, rock song with Muse tendencies and raspy vocals. “Alive,” transitions well into “Believe,” which causes you to think twice as to whether you’re actually listening to an old Muse record as opposed to The Age of the Universe. The band is comprised of three members: Isaac on Vox and guitars, Enrico on Drums and Alessandro on Bass. The sound produced by this three piece band is incredibly immense, but crisp and part of that credit must be given to their producer, Francesco Tedesco. It makes you wonder if unlike Muse, their live shows are as powerful, crisp and captivating. Other than the driving rock ballads, Singularity also consists of slower tempo songs such as “Far from the Sun,” featuring A Rainy day in Bergen and a pleasant, catchy groove titled “Spanish Eyes.”

Without sucking their privates too much, similar to most debuts, the album suffers from the age of digital, the ability of abundance as opposed to the age of wax, the lack of availability. The Age of the Universe would have done Singularity some good by leaving close to half of the songs off of the album. Too much is often worse than too little. Nevertheless, with songs like “The men on the edge,” Singularity has shown the great talent and potential of this up and coming band, The Age of the Universe. - Hear magazine

The mind is a wide open space to explore when we have a passionate idea to run with. Quite literally the universe is our oyster and If it’s not shucked and eaten fresh than it will likely spoil.

Washington, D.C space rock trio The Age of the Universe vocalist and guitarist Isaac Reese had some music floating around in his vast universe of a mind and so he decided to birth it. The result is Singularity, a dynamic fusion of big rock melodies that grab from every decade since the 70’s, relying heavily on the hard punch of rock and alternative and giving it a sound that is comparable to Black Sabbath having spent a weekend cabin retreat with Mother Love Bone, under the influence of some of that fabled Pink Floyd blotter.

There is a definite heart thrumming and full-bodied feel to this music, not unlike staring endlessly into an Alex Grey painting, only it is musical.

You can feel the intention and love cradled between the lines and within the textures.

This isn’t just a rock album tossing stones into the river in hopes that it will block the flow. This is a damned river working around the stones and uniting back into a mightier flow!

Full of soaring vocals, tripped out effects, and a hammering of bass, drums, and a wailing guitar, Singularity is quite like a journey into the stratosphere.

Jarring and complex is the excellent “Priceless” which hits hard and fast, reminding me a bit of At the Drive In but more focused and way less of a mathematical whirlwind. By far my favourite at present, but I am biased when it comes to a good heavy rock song with layer and depth.

Another winner is the title track. “Singularity” not only shows a band with a dynamic and varied style, it also shows that there is some very real thought put to the words in these songs. “Singularity” rides like a darned near perfect power ballad, sweeping and emotionally stirring. And with lyrics like the opening line, ‘Invisible but everywhere is the spirit that everyone shares…’ you know you’re in for a mind expanding journey. And also, it must be said that the last half of this song is so very sublime!

Singularity is a great debut from some fresh faces on the scene and will appeal to anyone in need of a good shot of hard edged space rock with heart and pulse.

Take a seat, strap in, and set your mind to warp speed. - All what's rock

"The Age of the Universe is a hard-driving, hard working D.C. band and it shows on their debut record,Singularity.
Borrowing from the past and present, the band are definitely on a fast track to the top of your mix.
Singularity has a racing pulse

I rarely use the word pulsating, mainly because it makes me giggle but in this case, it works.
The brain literally throbs in synch with each track of Singularity, chock full of prog rock and ample, seasoned melody making and riffs.
Thrashy, raunchy, punkish rock…Singularity is a strong visual work as well, conjuring images from the festival stages of the 70s and arenas of today.

The Age of the Universe have managed to put all of their best fronts forward.

“Far from the sun feat. A rainy day in Bergen” is full of cinematic soul. A truly lovely track.
I also thoroughly enjoy “Questions” and most definitely the title track
“Singularity.”

If this is The Age of Universe’s first effort, I can’t wait for the next one." - Rock world magazine

From the very first moments of “Alive,” the opening track from The Age of the Universe’s new album Singularity, it’s clear that these guys aren’t fucking around. The song absolutely roars out of the gate, with a potent guitar blast immediately setting up the tension of the song. The tune speeds along at the same breakneck pace, using a common time, 4/4 time signature (and an even more common drumbeat) right up until the chorus, where the drums cut into 6/8 for a syncopated rhythmic shift that immediately takes the song to another level.

The other elements at play here, while well executed, don’t grab the same attention. The sludgy, dark guitar riffs are standard issue hard rock fare, while vocalist Isaac Reese takes equal cues from Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses and Matt Bellamy of Muse. Drummer Enrico Canu is undoubtedly the star of the song, though, with his frequent rhythmic changes driving an enjoyable air of progressive unpredictability into the song. It’s a factor that turns “Alive” from forgettable rock lead-off into a song that demands for you to listen the rest of the album, and it’s one that more bands should employ. How much greater could a lot of pop and rock music be with a dynamic drummer like Canu at their center?

Throughout, Singularity stays an engrossing listen, thanks mostly to Canu’s explosive percussion, but also because the band does things musically that other bands in their hard rock vein probably wouldn’t risk. What sounds like a religious chant courses through the undercurrent at the start of the unnerving “The Men on the Edge,” where Reese trades his Muse-meets-Guns N' Roses squeal for something more in common with Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant’s potent wail. The melodies are still less interesting than the sounds that surround them, with Reese’s guitar loops and Canu’s drum fills forging a core combo sound that more or less pushes the vocals and lyrics into the back of the band. Bassist Alessandro D’Ascoli provides the song with a grim underbelly, but he’s slightly less essential to its success.

For most of its runtime, Singularity remains what it is during songs like “Alive” and “The Men on the Edge” – loud, grungy, dark, hard rock ‘n’ roll. The latter track, without the rhythmic play of the former, gets a bit repetitious and dull as it goes on, perhaps inspiring a reach toward the skip button two or three minutes in. Something similar happens when the band drops the tempo, such as on the ballad “Far From the Sun.” Musically, the track is quite lovely, with a spacious, atmospheric vibe that feels downright unsettling for how it never seems to hit a melodic cadence. The problem is, when Reese isn’t wailing away like a classic rock ‘n’ roll star, his voice is passable at best, with questionable tuning and a few vocal licks that sound downright amateurish. It’s possible that some of this is intentional: as mentioned previously, the song isn’t written to be predictable from a melodic standpoint, and some of the spots where Reese sounds like he’s singing the wrong notes are probably supposed to clash. His voice is just a bit too light to make such haunting mood pieces really work in the way that someone like Bellamy or Chris Cornell might.

As a result, it’s the slower moments of Singularity that don’t really go anywhere, while the higher tempos allow The Age of the Universe to showcase what really makes them stand out as a band. “Fallen Angel” hits both sides of the coin, with rather slow and dull verse sections offset by pounding guitar choruses where Reese shouts to be heard above the swell of the rest of the band. It’s the best use of his voice on record, turning it into another instrument rather than a leading melodic line, and producing a lush and powerful sound that this band absolutely should try to cultivate more often in the future. For now, we’re stuck with a record that goes back and forth between what the band does terrifically (in-your-face hard rock) with what they don’t do as well (ponderous ballads or mid-tempo tracks), often in the course of a single track. The musicians are talented enough to hold it together, though, and while the album overstays its welcome a bit by crossing the 50 minute mark, it’s still worth a listen for fans of everything from Thrice to Pink Floyd to Foals.

6.5/10 - Absolute punk

Space-rock group The Age of the Universe deliver a thunderous sound that will delight fans of Muse, Dredg, Queens of the Stone Age and other emotive hard-rocking acts with a spacey edge. Their debut full-length, Singularity, showcases several highlights that interweave hard-rocking aesthetics with glimpses of metal and punk. Perhaps most impressively is, that in genres that often full victim to blandness or samey-sounding approaches, Singularity manages to pack 11 tracks that easily differentiate from one another. A straight rocker like “The Men on the Edge” rides on an anthemic chorus that repeats the track’s title, while the album’s self-titled effort showcases a glistening blend of reflective keys and gentle percussion that eventually evolves into a ferocious guitar-laden alt-rock thunder, reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age — which is quite complementary.

While the self-titled track on Singularity is one of the more stylistically eclectic efforts on the album, even the straightforward rock bits – like “Believe” and “The Men on the Edge” – deliver enough infectiousness and production polish to keep things entertaining. While it is true that The Age of the Universe are not delivering a style unlike anything else heard before, they’re doing what they do quite well: delivering a spacey blend of alternative, rock, and metal that will satisfy fans of wildly successful groups like Muse and QotSA. The Age of the Universe appear to be on their way up. - Obscure sounds

This isn’t progressive rock I the traditional sense of the term. It’s progressive rock in the way that any of the modern alternative rock inspired stuff like Radiohead and shoegaze is. What’s not at question, though, is the quality of music here. This is a great album from a talented band. While it has a familiarity to it, it’s also quite original. The blend of sound ranges from the aforementioned alternative rock to metal (one song really is metal), psychedelia and more. It’s a set that works well from start to finish. I look forward to more from this outfit in the future.




Track by Track Review

Alive
After some sound effects, they fire out into fast paced jamming that’s heavy and crunchy. It drops back for an alternative rock meets modern prog section for the first vocals. The chorus is much heavier. There is a lot of psychedelia built into it. There is almost a frantic version of a shoegaze sound on this thing. It’s a killer tune and a real powerhouse.


Believe
Frantic and powerful, this one seems to combine 1980s music with modern proggy stuff like Radiohead and The Cure. It’s another smoking hot tune. It’s crunchy and dramatic and a real screamer. I really love the instrumental section late in the track.

The Men on the Edge
Starting with something like Gregorian chant, this moves out into a dramatic jam from there, tentatively at first. Then it gets some seriously heavy guitar added to the mix. There is a metallic riff that takes it after that section winds through. This song is quite seriously a screamer, combining something like a modern progressive rock edge with thrash metal and even some old school metal. This is one of my favorite songs here.

Far from the Sun feat. A rainy day in Bergen
Melodic, acoustic driven music opens this in stark contrast to the sounds we’ve heard to this point. Jazz, psychedelia and progressive rock seem to merge here as this grows outward. The song is over half way over around the three minute mark before it gets into heavy, powered up sounds. Even then, it’s sort of metal combined with modern progressive rock. Multiple layers of vocals add a lot to this. It’s another highlight of the set.

Fallen Angel
This powers in hard rocking, but drops back to something like psychedelia turned modern progressive rock from there. It powers up for the chorus, with a hard-edged, hook laden section. There are some pretty intriguing musical elements that emerge later as this keeps evolving. There are world music styled progressions over an almost tribal drumming. This is another highlight for me, without question. It launches out into a riff that makes me think of modern Rush later.

Priceless
The main portion of this song is more hard edged and furious. It combines modern prog with metal in a scorching arrangement. They drop it down to mellower music mid-track, though that’s more purely prog (mind you, still modern). I love the vocals when it powers back up for the closing section.

Singularity
The title track is almost eight minutes in length. It opens with melodic, but still rather crunchy modern progressive rock sounds. This gives way after the first vocal section to a more powered up jam that’s in keeping with the proggier sounds of acts like Radiohead. For balance it drops back down after a time to a variant on the first section. They bring it back out into the harder rocking stuff later, but then drop it way down to a mellower instrumental jam that’s quite trippy. It fires back out into the scorching hard rocking section after that for a particularly inspired vocal section. They drop it back down after, though. The vocals have a very accessible, melodic sound to them. They end the piece by slowing it down, like a record player with the power turned off. It’s a little creepy to me for some reason. That’s not a bad thing, though.

Spanish Eyes
The majority of this song lands in the melodic, mellower modes. It does power up into a harder rocking jam mid-track, though. This is good, but not one of the standouts.

Say it loud
If the whole album were like this, I would have landed it under “heavy metal.” This screamer is definitely metal. It’s also definitely awesome. It’s fast paced and furious and just plain cool.

Questions
The bulk of this piece is mellower and more melodic. With that said, though, it’s still dynamic, working through some changes. There are some rather creepy elements at times in this more sedate section. The harder edged section really feels like a more impassioned version of the earlier modes of the song.

Dreams of Tomorrow
I love the contrast between the mellower bulk of the piece and the harder rocking ones mid-track. This is, overall, sort of a continuation of the sounds of the rest of the album. While it’s good, it doesn’t really stand out all that much from the rest. - Music street journal

The Age Of The Universe sind ein Rocktrio aus Washington D.C., USA. Die Band setzt sich aus den Mitgliedern Isaac Reese – Gesang und Gitarre, Enrico Canu – Drums und Alessandro D’Ascoli – Bass, zusammen und präsentieren nun mit “Singularity” ihr neues Album. Stilistisch ist die Band (laut Biografie) mit 30 Seconds To Mars und Queens Of The Stone Age zu vergleichen. Mal schauen, was sie mit “Singularity” abgeliefert haben.

Cd artwork“Alive” bildet einen energiegeballten Einstieg in das Album. Gemeinsamkeiten mit Q.O.T.S.A. fallen sofort auf. Die Band kommt mit einer Explosion daher, die einem in den Sessel haut. Kraftvolle Drums, messerscharfe Gitarren im Refrain und psychedelische Züge im Verse lassen alle Ohren auf The Age Of The Universe blicken. Rockt! Ähnlich geht es mit dem zu Beginn etwas an U2 erinnernden “Believe”. Ein verzerrter Bass und verhallte Gitarren machen den Sound geradezu meisterhaft. Hier gibt es nichts zu meckern. Mystisch eröffnet sich dem Hörer “The Man On The Edge”, das nach einer halben Minute mit einem Donnergrollen der Gitarren zum gestandenen Heavy-Song umschaltet. Abermals präsentieren sich The Age Of The Universe als Könner in Sachen Songwriting, Gesang, Melodien und Saitenvirtuosität. Auch der Drummer macht eine gute Figur. Zärtlich leitet “Far From The Sun” ein. Cleane Gitarren, eingängige Bass-Riffs und gefühlvolle Keyboardsphären im Verse, werden im Refrain von einem Piano-Spiel begleitet. Die Band spielt hier im Feature mit “A Rainy Day in Bergen”. Von der Heavyness ist auf diesem Stück fast nicht mehr viel übrig. Zwar gibt es hier auch Stromgitarren zu hören, verglichen mit den bisherigen Tracks, klingt diese Nummer aber sehr sanftmütig, was nicht heißen soll, dass die Nummer schlecht ist. Im Gegenteil: – ist ‘ne schöne Rock-Ballade. “Fallen Angel” ist wieder das komplette Gegenteil. Ein tonnenschwerer, energischer Rocker, der zwar ein wenig ruhig im Verse ist, dafür im Chorus wieder abgeht. Der Wechsel zwischen leicht und heavy macht die Band aus. Das weiß zu gefallen! “Priceless” ist ein harter, wütender Rocker, der zum Bangen verleitet. Die Nummer ist einfach stark. Unglaublich geile Gitarren und Bassarbeit und ein Drummer, der seine Schießbude nur so abfeuert. Das folgende, titelgebende Stück “Singularity” wirkt mystisch, ruhig, fast sogar schon melancholisch. Wie immer wird der ruhige Verse im Refrain durch pure Heavyness ausgetauscht und was ergibt diese Mischung? Richtig! Abermals eine Nummer, die sich nicht zu verstecken braucht. “Spanish Eyes” würde ich als Akustik-Schnulz-Pop bezeichnen, der bestens im Radio aufgehoben wäre. The Age Of The Universe geben Vielseitigkeit zum besten. Ab knapp 3 Minuten ist jedoch hier vorübergehend wieder Schluss mit kuschlig: nach einem kurzen Break, begleiten Heavy Rock-Gitarren die Akustik-Gitarren in einem recht zügigen Tempo. Bassist, Drummer und Gitarrist sind ebenso genial wie auch der Sänger. Nach diesem Ausflug wird der Song wieder balladesk und verbleibt auch bis zu seinem Ende in dieser Konstellation. Bei “Say It Loud” ist der Name Programm. The Age Of The Universe schütteln hier einen makellosen Rocker aus dem Ärmel an dem es nichts auszusetzen gibt! Mit ruhigen Keyboardflächen und einer Chorus-Gitarre eröffnet das nachdenklich-stimmende, schöne “Questions”, dass durch sein Sounddesign und Konzept funkelt und glänzt. Gegen Ende, rockt der Song nochmal kurz drauf los. Kombiniert mit dem Text und dem Gesang, macht dies durchaus Sinn. Wunderbar! “Dreams Of Tomorrow” zeigt die Band ein letztes mal in ihrer besten Form. Mystisch, ruhig und nicht ganz so heavy. Im Chor macht die Band auch feine Arbeit und das kommt hier sehr gut zur Geltung.

Fazit: 9 von 10 Punkten. Ein meisterhaftes Album, das poppige Einlagen mit rotzigem Rock kombiniert und zeigt, dass sowas sehr gut funktionieren kann! Ein Meisterwerk! Hier ist für jeden was dabei. U2-Fans sei sie ebenso empfohlen wie 30 Seconds To Mars-Fans. Und dennoch ist sie – neben eben genannter Bands nicht nur was für Queens Of The Stone Age-Fans. TOP!

Review von Philipp – Philipp@she-wolf.eu - She Wolf

Singularity is one of those albums where once it’s over you can’t stop listening. The Age of the Universe is a hard rock band from Washington D.C, and their hard rock melodies are catchy, infectious, and incredibly addicting. Guitarist Isaac Reese, bassist Alessandro D’Ascoli, and drummer Enrico Canu is a trio that packs a lot of punch into an album that lasts a little over an hour. Playing blazing and blistering guitar solos throughout Singularity, there are times when you feel like the band is at a jam session playing with such metal legends as Black Sabbath or even Pantera, as they carry those bands heavy sounds and passion into their own music. In the bands biography, they talk about taking the time to stare at the stars and wonder about the mysteries of the universe, and with the bands spacey, atmospheric and reflective vibe, they accomplish conveying this viewpoint well. The album’s opening track “Alive” gets your heart racing with its fast drum beat and explosive guitars. Isaac’s vocals have a bit of spacey feel, while having a hint of a Freddie Mercury influence. The songs psychedelic feeling is reminiscent of artists from the 1970’s, making the members seem like they are decades ahead of their time. The band’s cinematic approach to the songs music video which tells the story of a man feeling dissatisfied with life and decides to end his life and fails, also reminds us that we must stop and take a break from everything around us before we run the risk of falling off the edge.

“Fallen Angel” has the same grit and in your face vibe as its predecessor with the exception of the change in time signature. Slowing down the overall mood and feel of the song shows their diversity and that they are comfortable going outside the box when writing music. “Say It Loud” turns up the volume, and is a perfect addition to the bands set list. Sounding very similar to Freddie Mercury once again, Isaac shows off his versatile voice and flashy guitar skills.

The albums opening track “Dreams of Tomorrow” is another slow ballad, with a soft piano in the first half of the song to give the track a lighter touch. There are really no complaints about the song except that the overdubbed vocals from Isaac don’t feel like they go well together with the rest of the track. About half way through the song, the band kicks off and goes back to its hard rock roots, which by this point, we know that they play this style of music very well. Once Singularity is finished, we know that The Age of the Universe holds nothing back when it comes to bearing their emotions. The band is a force to be reckoned with and if Singularity is any indication about where the band is going, it will be a positive road for the group - Listen here!

Ambitiously named The Age of the Universe has drawn comparisons to Muse. And when singer/guitarist Isaac Reese pours on the electric guitar riff-age during "Alive," the opening song for the album Singularity, you realize such a RIYL is not at all unfounded.
Rounded out by drummer Enrico Canu and bassist Alessandro D'Ascoli, this Washington DC band is also like Muse, in that it's a trio as well.

But the likenesses to Muse don't end there. Similar to Muse, The Age of the Universe writes songs about lofty, philosophical concerns. Even though Reese reaches for a Robert (Led Zeppelin) Plant-esque wail during "The Men on the Edge," you'd never mistake the group for any pre-metal classic rock band. These are songs more about the head than the crotch.

All 11 songs are all sonically fantastic, in large part due to the production work of Francesco Tedesco. But for whatever reason, it's difficult to connect emotionally with The Age of the Universe. In the end, listening to this album is a little like talking poetry with a biologist. - Anti music

The Age of The Universe has some very tight instruments on their Singularity album, vocals follow suit and have a slight resemblance to Bono's voice sometimes; but not close enough to be a detractor from the overall listening experience of the album. The band really shines on their harder numbers, billing themselves as Alternative and Space Rock, their music fits either category; Alternative more so, I know what they're aiming for but when you hear Space Rock you expect more trippy cosmic rock. In places this is presented but not as much as some would expect from the genre billing. Again, this is not a detractor. Bass lines stand out and are strong, leading the rhythm more than the drums at points, this works for me.


This isn't to say guitar, drums, or vocals are weak, each seems to stand out more than others in more than a vocal/guitar/bass/drum solo kind of way; which is fine, but the three piece outfit is much stronger when sharing the spotlight equally. Once more especially on their harder almost metal songs, not to be redundant in terms, but when the trio is harder they are better. Alt sensibilities never leave their lyrical content and structuring, but even with this album being a studio album, it just sounds and definitely feels as though each member of The Age of The Universe is enjoying what they are playing more the harder they are playing. Pacing is steady and solid, even when the couple of slower songs on the album are playing; there's never any lag start of album to finish. As the album progresses toward the last song you can hear some Queens of The Stone Age influence in the compositions, maybe even a touch (just a touch) of Radiohead. However, you know you're listening to The Age of The Universe all the way, and I write that as a compliment. "Say It Loud" is probably my favorite song on Singularity, I feel it shows the best the band has; hard, fast, pissed off, and exhilarated.


Track list:
Alive
Believe
The Men on The Edge
Far from The Sun (Feat. A Rainy Day in Bergen)
Fallen Angel
Priceless
Singularity
Spanish Eyes
Say It Loud
Questions
Dreams of Tomorrow

Choice cuts are "Alive", "Priceless", the title track, and "Say It Loud".

The Age of The Universe gets a solid 4 out of 5 for Singularity.

The Age of The Universe is Isaac Reese (vocals and guitars), Enrico Canu (drums), Alessandro D'Ascoli (bass). For more from The Age of The Universe check out http://www.theageoftheuniverse.com. - Tastes Like Rock! (USA)

DC-based trio The Age of The Universe promote themselves as setting out to capture the mystery of space, time, energy and matter through a blend of alternative rock, An uncompromising and unpredictable cocktail including elements of punk, alt-rock, psychedelia and space rock.

Lastly, they are cheekily comparing their soundscape to a jam session held by members of Pink Floyd, Muse and Black Sabbath. This review will test the legitimacy of this claim by taking a good and long listen to their debut record, Singularity. Tallying up at 11 tracks of considerable variety, it is clear that The Age Of The Universe reach far, wide and high to the stars.

The collective effort leaves me thinking that there is absolutely no reason why this band shouldn't be given substantial attention, they are bravely attempting to amalgamate different sounds into a unique sound, but they do sometimes step over their own toes by jam-packing their productions with a plethora of different expressions, which is sometimes slightly overwhelming. Ultimately resulting in an unsharp and slightly unclear concept.

Secondly, the vocalist has plenty of potential but it is sometimes extremely strained, for example in the song "The Men On The Edge". Couple of vocal training sessions and perhaps a more humble approach would be advice from my side.

Negatives aside, there are plenty of stand-out tracks which I feel easily justify TAOTU's relevance. A soothing track such as "Far From The Sun" has a certain eerie melancholia to it, the ultimate rise is climax is indicative of a trio who know how to use their instruments well.

"Fallen Angel" is another exotic addition in which some timbales or darbukas are used to bring some tribalism to the mix, and this coupled with a driven chorus line makes for a good listen. "Priceless" is undoubtedly the most heavy song as it contains swings of both groove metal in forms of double pedal and elements of QOTSA's riff-laden madness. A solid solo is also to be found in the title track "Singularity".

A personal favourite of mine is "Questions" that is definitely one of the catchiest tracks they have produced, easily a hit-maker. Returning to their comparisons to the three heavyweights mentioned earlier, The Age Of The Universe definitely lie closest in soundscape to Muse, I fail to see so much of a Black Sabbath influence, yet every metal/rock band inevitably can be said to have been influenced by the pioneers. In terms of Pink Floyd, I would suggest them to work on the depth of their songs if they wish to be related to some of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century. Keep at it though, it is definitely not a bad source of inspiration.

I applaud bands who go full-throttle with their first release by shedding their creative hearts in a fierce effort. It's success rate, I think, will be defined by the bands subsequent development in live performances and hopefully, a more sharp follow-up that deals with the aforementioned problems regarding vocals and consistency. I am hoping to see more of a red thread throughout future releases, one that actually guides the listener through space with direction.

Download: Singularity, Fallen Angel, Priceless
For The Fans Of: Muse, Editors, Radiohead
Listen: facebook.com

Release date 03.04.2014
Self-released - Rockfreaks.net