Kinetic Element was originally formed to perform keyboardist and vocalist Mike Visaggio’s music form his solo album Starship Universe, released in 2006. Things, however, took a turn and they liked the idea of playing together as a band and along with playing covers of classic rock and prog-rock songs, they have been playing their own original material. Some of it already released as a promo ep, The Powered By Light Suite in 2008. In 2009, the band self-released Powered By Light
In 2008 I got to hear Kinetic Element’s demo ep, The Powered By Light Suite, and though production-wise, there was a lot left to be desired, the music on it was enough to make me anticipate their future release. It came in the form of Powered By Light, self-released in 2009. As was the case for the ep, here too ELP serves as a major point of reference, as are Yes, Genesis and Procol Harum to a smaller extent. The tunes are very accessible and melodic. All the songs are written and composed by Mike Visaggio except for one, the instrumental Meditation, composed by guitarist Todd Russell.
There is a sense of hope prevailing in the songs, which I feel in both the tone of the music itself and is also evident from the lyrics. They speak of trying to overcome obstacles, believing in oneself and not fearing them. I for one am not thrilled with these type of lyrics, but then again, they are not that much “in the way” of enjoying the music for me. I do appreciate the way Mike Visaggio sings them and adapts them to the rhythm (take for instance The Ascent). However, at times I wish a more rasp and crude voice would take the lead or join in to add another element to the sound.
Mike also serves us some beautiful and hooking keyboards work. The keyboards are at the forefront the majority of the time and set the tone of the music as well as the pace at times. However, the rest of the band are more than able at backing (and even leading or soloing ? check the guitar solo in Now And Forever) and accompanying, giving the songs the volume and breadth they require to sound properly (although at times I’d appreciate less use of cymbals). Peace Of Mind, Peace Of Heart showcases a beautiful interplay of guitar and keyboards and a well done development of a theme and side theme. I’d recommend this to fans of “symphonic-prog” and the above mentioned bands. This is not an essential album, but it contains some good and appealing songs.
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