Planetoid’s The Abraxis Tactics – Phase 1: The Kiss of the Magnetar is both their newest release, and first foray into the wide open world of confusing record titles. Only four tracks long, it is the first, presumably, in a series of releases of singles that are, presumably, about a lot of things being either threatened with, or met by their destruction.
Sound-wise, it’s much the same as the band’s first album. For those of you who do not already know this sound, think of Muse getting into a bar fight with Symphony X: spacey guitar effects laid thick upon not quite prog, but not simply rock arrangements. One notable change though, is this single has more polish than Shadow. Some studio magic is apparent in the layered ending of Soul Power, and other more subtle touches crop up here and there.
Step Away From the Controls is both the centerpiece and tightest of the record’s tracks. A jumping, thick groove adds another layer of threat to Locrius’s screaming preacher vocals. Flowing smoothly into Kiss of the Magnetar, a more moody and brooding song, but still sufficiently violent: ‘If I run out of plasma / I’ll rip you apart with my hands’.
Fortunately, Planetoid hasn’t bled their ideas dry on their first record, as many groups are wont to do. Unfortunately, this here Abraxis Tactics is over too quickly, and I can’t figure out what the title is supposed to mean. I’ll end by saying that while I do not know who/what a/the Magnetar is, if this band is singing about it, I don’t think I want it kissing me.
