This is a three track promo CD by these Finnish prog-metallers, who apparently have ninety minutes of music already recorded. They consider themselves to be masters of their instruments with great technical skill -- and for once, a band's self-coined description is not mere puffery. The band is centred around one Sami Saarinen who is the guitarist and composer and like the other four members has been involved in a number of other projects.

Few prog metal bands fail due to lack of technical mastery, and Status Minor are no different.The strength of their compositions are a different story altogether, as a dislike for 4/4 time and advanced musical ability do not automatically translate into decent and memorable tunes.

The low point of this album, from the vantage point of Joe Average listener, is an occasional descent into technical wankery. This is most evident on "Wounds", a ten minute monster that starts out decently but descends into a bout of fretboard onanism and although it recovers towards the end, it has lost momentum and feels weak.

Overall, nice work that will appeal to any fan of prog metal, but will also appeal to causal fans, as evidenced by yours truly. Just keep the songs short, guys.