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Well there has been a lot of buzz about this band lately, and even though the word "Prog" normally makes my eyes glaze over, after so much hype I at least had to hear this, just so I could say if it sucked or not. This is the debut album for the oddly-monikered Communic, and I have to say it is really very good.

If you like Nevermore, then you will like this, plain and simple. That is not to say that Communic are a clone, but there is an enormous similarity of style. Communic are proggy, but in a very heavy way with very, very little in the way of keys. This is not wanky spacey stuff with noodling keyboard/guitar dialogues, rather this is heavy, crunchy metal with a definite thrash twist to it. Even if you don't care about the long, rather complex song structures, the heaviness of the riffing will keep you interested. As is usual with prog metal, the songs lack a bit of focus, and therefore lose some of their identity in close proximity to one another. In other words, you could spot a Communic song in a second, but you might not be able to tell which one it was.

The vocals are a bit of a letdown, as while Oddleif Stensland has a good voice, he seems to lack any form of charisma. The vocal lines are decent, but nothing you will remember later. A real fireball of a vocalist could have raised this to the next level, but Stensland's voice is pretty generic and without any individual character. The vocal work certainly does not distract or anything, and technically there is nothing wrong with it, but it has no presence. The lyrics are typical prog nonsense about inner struggles and crap like that. You can just ignore them.

Overall "Conspiracy In Mind" is a strong debut from a very promising band. Points to Communic for not forgetting the 'Metal' in 'Prog Metal' and cranking out a very heavy and aggressive album that will still satisfy the craving for more complex songwriting in the palate of many metalheads. A great prog album for those who are not prog fans.