Rendezvous Point
Universal Chaos

Norwegian proggers Rendezvous Point comes with their second album Universal Chaos, which is an album that has a fairly interesting artwork. But artwork isn’t everything even if it looks good on vinyl, so what about this band that shares name with a headland in Ontario, Canada. If you didn’t know that, it means that you have learnt something when reading this review – something more than just anecdotes about this quintet that makes up this band that was started in Kristiansand back in 2010. The Debut album was released in 2015 and was called Solar Storm so it would seem like they are somewhat gravitating towards space.

It is progressive metal with some spacey touches but no chaos as the name would suggest. I would say that it is impossible not to draw some parallels to Leprous, another Norwegian progressive band. But Leprous is a more dynamic band, they have more charismatic vocals and a larger than life feeling that Rendezvous Point is missing. They do have a strong production, competent instrumentalism and good vocals but they sound a bit like a less dynamic version of Leprous. They vary their album relatively well but there are no surprises and the album can almost be described as a bit predictable, but a good thing is that they keep the playing time sensible enough to fit on one vinyl record – something that isn’t the most obvious choice for several bands in the progressive genre.

Universal Chaos is a good album, progressive fans should like it even though there is a risk that some of them will think that the band play it a little bit too safe. They don’t have any weak songs but the selection of songs still becomes the weaker point as the album lacks hit songs or stronger songs that makes you stop and take notice – the things that makes a good album great is missing. But it is a really well sounding production and that is a positive, and I doubt that it is an album that will be disappointing to anyone who buys it – especially not to those that are into the progressive metal.

I am missing some adventurous spirit but if you like the progressive metal stuff you will probably find this album fairly appealing. Unfortunately it never really takes off so it remains a good but never really a great album as those great hit songs are missing. If you are a fan of Leprous there is a fairly big chance that you will enjoy this album because it is a bit of a Leprous light kind of album. A well made album that will not disappoint any buyers although it may not dazzle too many of them either.

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