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Coexistence is a two man band featuring a guitar player from France (Gregory Giraudo) and a singer from Sweden (Carl Lindquist) whose musical talents are allowed to "coexist" (get it?) thanks to the Internet. Fortunately for us, the music these two have created is as good as that last line of mine is lame (to be honest, I pinched it from their Myspace page). What we have here on Carrion Comfort, their debut EP, is some pretty aggressive sounding and well written progressive metal. I am most often reminded of Dead Reckoning-era Threshold, perhaps a bit more "raw" and less melodic, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Title track "Carrion Comfort" is a solid, mid-paced burner with some excellent lead work and a great, fuzzy riff. "Seize the Day" is very similar although there are some slower breaks that show off Carl Lindquist's outstanding vocals. This guy is a keeper. He complements the music in fine fashion. "Twisted Soul" is probably the most Threshold-like, especially the chorus. Two things hold Carrion Comfort back: Lindquist really over-emotes, to the point of parody, at times on "Twisted Soul" and all four songs sound VERY similar. Carrion Comfort could easily have been one song, in four parts, and it gets a little monotonous despite only clocking in at around 18 minutes. Neither point is enough to overshadow the potential Giraudo and Lindquist have shown. With some variety in the songwriting, Coexistence could quickly become a player in the progressive metal arena.

Recommended, especially to fans of Threshold, Symphony X, Dream Theater, etc.