adg211288 Quiet World (2015) is the debut full-length album by US progressive rock/metal act Native Construct. It is a concept album about an outcast and unstable guy who loves and girl who doesn't return his feelings, so he creates his own fantasy world where there are no outcasts that he is basically God over and what happens after that, which includes some sort of conflict or rebellion from those who live in the new world, who aren't as enthralled by what it offers. I'm unsure if the story implies the original guy had some sort of powers or if it all takes place inside his head.

The music on Quiet World is fairly traditional based progressive metal with a few modern touches, such as the inclusion of some growling vocals, mixed with a lot of softer progressive rock based music. The band slip in influences from other genres of music into their compositions and it's clear even after just one listen that the group are highly accomplished musicians. I'm reminded a bit of the UK act Haken and can't help wondering if the guys in both bands grew up listening to the same sort of artists. The Dream Theater school of progressive metal influence is pretty apparent, but there's other stuff in here too, such as symphonic elements, electronic sounding stuff and jazzy bits. The sound is very diverse and it's impossible to really described Quiet World as 'just' a progressive metal album or even a progressive rock album. It's really quite all over the place with its influences and it takes more than a couple really dedicated listens to even begin to pick up on all the finer details; I'm sure even now I'm probably missing some of the more subtle influences, but that's what makes the album great for repeat spins, you never know when you'll pick up on something else.

But despite the obvious talent of Native Construct and the replay value of the album I can never shake the impression that Quiet World isn't anything more than a very solid start for this US band. It simply doesn't blow me away in the manner that other progressive metal debuts have in recent years. I guess if anything it could do with being a bit heavier to give the music more punch alongside its technical musicianship as right now Native Construct seem to be a band all about the 'Hey! Look what we can do!' factor, which certainly isn't a bad thing for a prog band, but I would like to hear more balance next time. Especially when they use growls their riffs could use a bit more intensity. Even so, Quiet World is worth an easy 4 stars.