If, in the year 1999, technical ability and innovative songwriting were an apt indicator of commercial potential, Estradasphere probably would have been sitting on a gold record with It’s Understood. As it stands, you’ve probably never heard of them. But there’s lots of attractive music on this debut. “The Trials and Tribulations of Parking on Your Front Lawn” is a hilarious, roaring bluegrass track. Video game themes pop up occasionally, as do jazz, metal, ambient, and classical. Some songs, like “Hungerstrike” stretch over nearly 20 minutes, popping back and forth from one riff to the next, with no bridges linking anything. “The Transformation” is the strongest track, highlighted by a dramatic mid-measure tempo change. Some songs fall flat, like “Spreading the Disease,” but overall, there’s plenty of great, genre-bending, highly technical music to compensate. – Kieran McCarthy
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