The old saying never judge a book by the cover fits like a glove in this occasion. Taking a first look at the Hiatus CD, I got the impression that this is one of those highly technical progressive... something pieces of work that would probably make my head hurt after a couple of spins in my CD player.
Well, Hiatus did give me a headache. But it was because of the frenzied Black Metal rhythms it contained, its lengthy compositions and... its flat production. To be more precise: Hiatus includes three songs, three very lengthy songs. Though often technical, don't be fooled, it has a Black Metal heritage that makes it quite charming during the listening. The vocal lines could have been much better but then again the compositions are so obliterating and dominant that even if they had Geoff Tate (Queensryche) as the singer, he would probably disappear under the wall of drums and guitar riffs.
Definitely not for the weak hearted nor the easy digestible music listener. It has a pseudo-intellectual approach that I didn't buy at all but has a charisma given by musicians with a strong identity. It can be considered at least as an interesting piece of work.