The Ripple Effect: The Music Commentary Radio Show  

Deep in the swirling space dust and astral residue of some galaxy a billion light years away, a group of cosmic adventurers drift to undiscovered lands in search of some undisclosed treasure. Armed with their grit and their wit, the interstellar warriors of Arcturus face the constant danger of their vessel breaking down between space ports or being overrun by their own boredom in a world of weightlessness. Sideshow Symphonies is both a cosmic odyssey and a comic oddity, an album so complex in its scope that it leaves all listeners shaking their head with a pleasure smile, sometimes silently wondering how such sound can be created, but most times speaking these thoughts aloud. It’s an album that’s one part metal, one part classical, a whole lotta’ parts theatrical, and something that can best be described as avant garde. But, it’s avant garde with a consistent theme, if you will. These aren’t a bunch of songs that noodle for the sake of noodling, or shifting textures just to be weird. The songs that make up Sideshow Symphonies tell us a tale, of what I’m not completely sure, but suffice it say that it’s a captivating tale that will have you listening past the dynamic flurries of sound and anticipating the next mood swing like a child does Christmas morning.

more . . . http://ripplemusic.blogspot.com/2009/08/arcturus-sideshow-symphonies.html