Notes
What do you get when you combine Slychosis and Majestic? What a stupid question. It's Proximal Distance of course. Proximal Distance began as a collaboration between Gregg Johns and Jeff Hamel, the masterminds of Slychosis and Majestic, respectively. Majestic's Jessica Rasche was brought in to handle the vocals, while Jeremy Mitchell and Todd Sears from the Slychosis camp play drums/percussion. The band says: "Taking from both Gregg and Jeff's progressive influences, the Proximal Distance sound is along the lines of Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Saga and many more 70's-style influences and should please even the most hardcore progressive rock listeners." Those influences are present, with Pink Floyd dominant (and we might add early Nektar), but the overall feel is more contemporary than that might suggest. For one, there is a slight metal influence. Not surprisingly, the album sounds like a blend of Majestic and Slychosis, except that the Genesis influence heard on Slychedelia is downplayed. There is a wealth of sonic details in the quieter sections. With a playing time of 74-minutes, there is a lot to absorb here, and it's difficult to sum it all up in a few words. Ultimately, their sound may be defined most by the fact the composers are both principally guitarists, and guitarists and keyboardists tend to write and arrange differently, particularly when it comes to classical music influences. Since guitarists have come to greatly outnumber true keyboardists in modern prog, that is one reason Proximal Distance sound contemporary even though the music draws heavily from classic prog. Beautiful artwork throughout the booklet from Russian artist Vladimir Moldavsky.
