dilutral. are one of the more promising acts to spring from U.K. soil as of late, blending the emphatically affable vocal prowess of bands like the Lostprophets with an experimental poignancy reminiscent of Incubus. They then go on to top it all off with brooding song structures akin to Tool, churning out winding songs that both cerebrally stimulate and physically charge the listener into submission.

Band frontman Kai Harris has a voice that effortlessly grasps the listeners attention, sounding somewhat like Incubus' Brandon Boyd during his melodic moments and Korn's Jonathan Davis during his most ferocious, though his style does stand on its own overall. Supported by backing parts courtesy of bassist/programmer/DJ Dave Corney, the vocal aspect of this CD is engaging and spacious, working almost in tandem with the atmospheric, yet pointed guitar work, maintaining a stern progressive focus throughout nearly all of the tracks on display. Not surprisingly, the basslines materialize with distinct prog rock reminiscent tendencies, emphasizing placement and technique over general lowend saturation, granting the music the ability to shift its depth on the fly as a sharply concentrated and at times, slightly downscaled drumming performance guarantees the momentum steadily progresses onward. Perhaps the bands ace in the hole though, is the inclusion of programming and djing, which open up a host of sonic dimensions for the band to engulf the songs within, while intelligently expanding the range and scope of their material in the process.

There is definitely a mature grasp of music composition in place on this outing as the band are more than able to create music that can set the mind adrift. Its textural and overtly ambitious, yet achieves its ends in a calm and creative manner, crafting intelligent prog rock based contemporary music that can be digested without requiring 100% of the listeners attention at all times. However, though the ideas are impressive, the implementation does still require some work, as nearly every song included on this EP clocks in at 5 minutes or more. When coupled with the fact that the song structures generally lack any stark dynamic contrast, they tend to end up dragging on and meandering through unnecessary part changes, straining the enjoyment that can be culled from them as time moves on. Aside from that and the looseness of a few verses and choruses here and there, Everything; Nothing." is a solid listen that gives off a good indication of the talent this five piece possess and hopefully, an eventual full-length release will fully document it beyond a shadow of a doubt.