Socionic – “Dividing Horizon”
Released: November 12, 2015
Label: Socionic Media
Number of Tracks: 9
Website: socionicband.com
To this day I don’t remember exactly when or even how I heard the band, but like Kaura (another great musical group out of Los Angeles), Socionic – featuring Michael Meinhart (vocals), Billy Graczyk (guitar), Matthew Denis (bass) & Lior Dar (drums) – started filling the void growing without a new Tool album to grace my ears after I purchased the band’s “Identity” EP. Craving more from the quartet, I jumped on board in pre-ordering Socionic’s first LP titled “Dividing Horizon”.
If there’s one thing Socionic has perfected when it comes to crafting opening sequences it’s the ability to make it feel like the listener is slowly approaching something before the reality of what’s before the individual nonchalantly confronts him/her. The ambience created is as warm and comforting as it’s foreboding and brooding. Look no further than the album’s opening track “Fearfall”. Not to continuously compare the two bands, but the record’s first offering is so reminiscent of Tool’s “Intolerance” from, ironically enough, Tool’s debut LP. Rather than have a song audibly “bubbling” to the surface before hearing what will set the album’s tone like “Intolerance”, “Fearfall” has a “Space Odyssey: 2001”-like opening where it feels like one is literally watching the rising horizon. There’s a great level of calming ambience leading to the first guitar riff, drum beat, bass line and word spoken to alert the listener about what to expect from both the album and the path of least resistance that society encourages.
Structurally, “Sanctity” follows the path “Fearfall” constructed four & a half minutes earlier, but does so in such a unique and unbridled fashion that it stands out long after the album has finished its first rotation. Halfway into the album comes “Unity”; a song featuring rapid guitar riffs, thumping bass lines & drums, and a chorus that reverberates and resonates to the point it feels like you’re having an out-of-body experience. With lyrics that not only tie into the overall message of “Dividing”, but also connects perfectly with the themes found in “Identity”, “Unity” is an audible tour de force that reinforces just how talented Socionic is. The same can be stated about the album’s longest song “Ascending Horizon” that perfectly blends the melodic valleys and prog-inspired peaks of “Unity” while continuing a lyrical travel through the great unknown (and divide).
But “Dividing Horizon” isn’t entirely heavy or doesn’t give the listener a chance to hear the type of range the band has. Three tracks in, “Myopia” occurs and allows for a peaceful, downing effect to occur without the loss of impact or meaningfulness. The seventh song, “Window Cell”, is similar to “Myopia” by starting off nice and slow with light instrumentals and Meinhart singing in a relatively low tone while remaining intelligible; featuring more lyrical depth to complement that story being unfolded for the listener to register and personally employ. These songs perfectly capture the near existential feeling one goes through during and/or when reflecting on the journey toward self-enlightenment, the perils that can befall someone during that figurative and literal trek, and the beauty that waits on the other end.
Coming full circle is the album with its final two songs by being incredibly heavy, yet textured in nature. There’s a certain level of excitement and energy found in track eight, “Obsidious Divide”, and nine, “System’s Son”, not heard anywhere else on “Dividing Horizon” – almost a rightful giant, enthusiastic “sigh” after realizing what’s been accomplished and what’s to come without resting on the album’s intended laurels. The harmonic twists and turns that make up not only these songs, but the entire album is almost too impressive to believe when you consider that this is only the band’s first full album (only preceded by a five-song EP that came out three years prior to the release of “Dividing Horizon”).
If you’re like me and continuously searching for bands and music to complement the figurative taste musicians that make up bands like Tool, then Socionic and their first full-length album is for you. But beyond that lofty comparison stands a band on the precipice of creating something even more special than they did with “Dividing Horizon” – a group of incredibly talented, lyrically and musically bold individuals looking to challenge the way you think about not only music, but also the way you see life.
