Thangelic is a new unsigned group from Toronto, Canada. Among their list of influences they list, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Rush, Pain of Salvation, Tool, and Evanescence. To be honest I can’t really hear the Symphony X sounds at all but there are basic elements of other prog bands such as the aforementioned Pain of Salvation throughout the songs. Vocals are delivered by Angela Wheeler who gives a sort of laid back approach to singing. There isn’t anything really forceful, it is more like a morose haunting lament than anything else, there to create atmosphere and mood.

The first song to greet my ears is the title track, 7 Deadly. A lengthy number, it clocks in at about seven and a half minutes and is a slow brooder of a song. To be honest I was having a hard time sitting through this until the four minute mark when a drastic change occurred. Instead of being the slow meandering tune it was before it quickly transformed into a healthy sounding progressive run that is very reminiscent of Dream Theater especially in the basslines and the guitarwork. It is here finally where the band shows off their degree of technicality and skill but after a moment or two of this it proceeds to return back to the former slow paced structure. Kepple’s Jig is a short three minute instrumental and is the highlight of the demo for me. A folky happy sounding acoustic intro gives way to a heavy guitar riff laced with keys and this sounds like something that really could have been off of Falling Into Infinity, Peruvian Skies is what comes to mind first. A really great song and Nathan Whitney provides a killer guitar solo as well. The final song is the eight minute Early Nightmare and as the other “complete” song, (read: vocals) it is a much, much better affair than 7 Deadly. The main reason why this is so much more enjoyable is because this is a lot more aggressive, especially in the riffing, than 7 Deadly and it keeps your interest easier and longer as well. Again, vocals are delivered in a haunting type way. Some more proggy keyboard runs and the song ends on a climactic flourish and a relatively high note.

Thangelic are a competent group but I can’t see a major label signing them without more work on their sound. They do have a high degree of talent but the main area of work seems to be the arrangement of the songs. There are some very cool and interesting moments throughout the demo and they are pretty much exclusive to the instrumental passages. As far as technical ability goes each musician does know how to play so no complaints there, like I said before the main thing that these guys need to work on is song arrangement. Their website should be up and running soon and if they have some soundclips I’d advise fans of Lacuna Coil or female fronted bands with Progressive leanings to check em out.