I must admit, I had never heard of IQ before and was astonished to learn that the band has been carrying the torch of prog-rock since 1983 (!). In that time, these English musicians have managed to release a dozen and a half studio albums, one live opus, an anthology, and a whopping three video compilations! As you may have guessed, the band members are no longer young men — all sporting mustaches and bald spots — yet the creative energy that radiates from within "Dark Matter" will keep them going for many, many years to come. Now, about the album. As I mentioned above, IQ play prog-rock. And I would add the prefix "space-." Indeed, if you don't read the lyrics, it feels as though IQ's songs narrate astral journeys and other tantric practices. The album contains only five compositions, yet the last one — "Harvest Of Souls" — consists of six parts. Listening to it, one cannot help but recall the Norwegians IN THE WOODS and their 17-minute masterpiece "Omnio": the same grand scale, the same all-permeating melodies, and the shy smile of the muse. That said, I wouldn't call "Dark Matter" an even album from start to finish. For instance, "Sacred Sound," in my opinion, takes too long to build up, and "Born Brilliant" feels too cold within the sensual and warm context of the other tracks. In one passage, there's a fragment reminiscent of Sting's famous song "Russians," and quite often the music intersects with AYREON's work, but the closest comparison for IQ I would name is X-RELIGION from Tashkent. The more you listen to the album, the more you fall in love with it. The booklet is also crafted with a generous dose of imagination: each musician embodies one of the songs. The only thing is that the disc's title — "Dark Matter" — rather poorly reflects its esoteric substance: the whisper of time, the rustle of turning pages, and the weeping of a distant, distant star.
