The debut EP by Slovakian guitarist Jakub Tirco shows some amazing promise from him and his band. Vocalist Shorty Lago is stellar throughout the EP and reminds me a bit of Dan Tompkins of TesseracT. More on that in a bit. The key to this EP, as it SHOULD be with any album, is the songs. These are well written songs. Even the intro song “I” is a really good introduction to the remaining songs.

The title track is next and it is an AMAZING song. It’s catchy, it has killer riffs and a memorable melody. Tirco can write a good riff without a doubt. It’s the promise of this song alone that will keep me interested in what Tirco, Lago and drummer Christopher Géci do in the future. BUT all is not perfect!

While the title track reminds a little of Haken, the second track “Divide Your Divinity” has a noisy djent riff mixed in it that, for me, just doesn’t mesh with the outstanding chorus and the ending section (before the riff returns). It’s not a bad riff, it just doesn’t fit the song and it sounds WAY too close to TesseracT. Remember what I said about Lago’s vocals? Well, it’s fine to sound like Tompkins but when the riffs sound too close to TesseracT, it gets a little off for me.

The closing track “Beyond the Clouds” has a stutter riff that also is similar to TesseracT. Again, it’s not really needed since Tirco can really write any kind of riff he wants and he is damn good at it too! The production and mix are by Tirco as well and are stellar. I suppose if Tompkins or Acle Kahney leave TesseracT, these guys would make good replacements. I think that Tirco and his band are capable of even more though. Like I said, these are really good songs and you can’t teach good songwriting. “Introspection” is like a recipe that just needs it’s ingredients mixed a little more evenly.

Rating: 8/10

Tracklist:
1. I
2. Introspection
3. Divide Your Divinity
4. Beyond the Clouds

Bandcamp: jakubtirco.bandcamp.com