Three has always been a significant number: Three distinct species of the human genus; three basic planes of Geology; Asimov’s 3 Laws of Robotics; three ingredients to an Atom; Freud’s three parts to the human psyche; three dimensions; The Lord of the Rings Trilogy; the Wiccan rule of 3; Crowley’s 3 school’s of magick; threesomes; The Holy Trinity; the list goes on and on…
In the case of this, the third and final album in Charlie Dominici’s “end of the human race” chronicle, I was sadly expecting yet another familiar triune axiom: the dreaded “third strike.” Not that I’d necessarily consider Dominici’s first two installments to be terrible, they just…swung and missed. The entirely acoustic Part 1 whiffed chiefly due to its softness, and the (thankfully) metallized Part 2, while definitely a step in the right direction, still lacked the spark and originality necessary to award it “Charlie Dominici’s triumphant return to progressive metal.”
So, with two outs and two strikes on the ol’ boy in the bottom of the ninth, I was expecting little more than a dribbler back to the mound to quickly bring an end to the O3 game. But by hell, Charlie’s gone and done his team right; while I wouldn’t quite consider Part 3 to be an outright home run, it’s pretty damn close. Let’s call it a triple to the right field corner that brings in the winning run. A triumph certainly worthy of the statement, “The third time’s a charm.”
Truthfully, everything’s been upgraded on O3 – A Trilogy Part 3. First and foremost, the songwriting has improved by leaps and bounds. These tunes are considerably more interesting and dynamic compared to what was found on Part 2. Smooth, mellow atmospheric measures that highlight Charlie’s superb vocals meld seamlessly into segments flashing some really surprisingly heavy riffing, and moments where the entire band seems to be injected with a newfound vigor and explosive vitality. Where Part 2 felt a bit restrained and “prog-metal by the book,” Part 3 feels more like Charlie sat down with the young dudes of Solid Vision (his band for this and the last release) and said, “Yes, this is obviously a progressive metal record, but let’s not forget to blow peoples’ heads right off their fuckin’ shoulders.” And although there’s a number of examples of just that on this record, “Genesis,” the album’s epic closer, does so in spades. Charlie’s obviously confidant enough in his young band’s ability that he keeps completely quiet for the first 5-minutes of the tune while the rest of the boys absolutely tear shit up by darting back and forth in an all-out prog metal jam.
The second most notable betterment has to do with the general ability of each member of the band. I’m not sure if everyone locked themselves in a room for a year with nothing but their instruments and the bare prog-necessities, but Part 3 showcases a marked improvement in the quality of musicianship all around. Or perhaps it’s just that everyone’s gelling together perfectly, which really makes the album sound like all the players are having a lot of fun playing off one another. The noodling is superb, the riffing is more headbangable, the drumming is quicker and more precise, and Charlie’s voice sounds excellent – yes, even better than what was belted forth on the first Dream Theater record so many years ago. But the award for most improved player would have to go to the man behind the keyboards. The keys here are much more diverse and delivered with more confidence as compared to the last endeavor, so cheers to Mr. Rigoldi for really stepping it up.
There you have it. Nearly 20-years after the release of When Dream and Day Unite and Charlie Dominici has finally dropped the album progressive metal fans have been waiting to hear. While not perfect, O3 – A Trilogy Part 3 certainly finds the band pointing their sites in a very, very positive direction. If Part 1 and 2 left your progressive metal pangs unsatisfied, I urge you to give the conclusion a fair shot. Three cheers for Dominici.
