Music: The Alpha Incident

PHOTO COURTESEY OF JOSH KERCHIEF

THE ALPHA INCIDENT

Area prog-metal band set to release part one of ambitious multi-media project

In yet another example of how the city's original music scene just keeps going from strength to strength, prog-metal band The Alpha Incident are poised to follow-up recent singles "The Complex" and "The Program" - both of which built on the complexity of 2018's Convergence - with the brilliant Sundowner, an ambitious multi-media project centered around a 25-minute composition comprised of three distinct sections. Limited attention spans be damned; AI aim to create thought-provoking music that challenges listeners, a mission they've accomplished here in spades thanks to an ever-improving chemistry. This latest offering - part one of which, the title track, should drop on September 2 - sees the band collaborating creatively more than ever with all five members contributing. Previously, guitarist Daniel Wade was primarily responsible for birthing song ideas but Sundowner also features valuable input from guitarist Patrick Casey, bassist Ellery Cochrane and drummer Thomas VanBibber. One thing remains constant, however: the fantastic vocals of Mike Morrow. It all adds up to AI's most varied and accomplished work to date.

Initially, the intention was to simply write a 3-song EP. But as work on Sundowner progressed, Casey suggested stringing it all together - not the easiest of tasks considering the detailed music that AI produces, especially in terms of atypical time signatures and extensive use of polyrhythms. But VanBibber's mathematical skills, in particular, came in handy - he's a wiz at connecting disjointed pieces together. Once all three musical sections - "Sundowner," "Liminal/Subliminal" and "Dreameater" - flowed together as a cohesive 25-minute piece, it fell to Morrow to create an equally elaborate lyrical vision for the project. "We convinced Mike to come up with a concept for it," Wade explains. "He had a couple different ideas - he sent me a quick little breakdown and I said, 'That's crazy, do it.' It went crazy in-depth - the whole concept is insane." While getting into the weeds of it all would simply take up too much space, Morrow succinctly explains, "I wanted to do something that would inspire. If anything, for this setting you can basically visualize Dune - it's very much like that world, a whole desert concept." He further notes that his earliest prog influence, Coheed & Cambria, "always