Band:	Pomegranate Tiger
Album:	All Input Is Error
Style:	Instrumental, Progressive metal
Release date:	September 2023

01. Devils To Ourselves
02. Dagger Dance
03. The Great Filter
04. Poison Pill
05. The Cryptographer
06. Metasphere
07. Burn The Spirit
08. False Dawn
09. All Input Is Error
10. Keyways

Earlier this year, many of us were dazzled by the weirdly wonderful instrumental metal debut Wet Ass Plutonium from Nuclear Power Trio. Well, if you thought that was a strange instrumental concept, then think again, you have no idea what's in store for you here on Pomegranate Tiger's bizarre All Input Is Error.

Pomegranate Tiger (previously known as Rock-a-saurus Rex) is a Canadian progressive/instrumental metal band formed back in 2008, which is now a one-man project driven by its founding member Martin Andres, who has been the sole member of the project since 2014. All Input Is Error is Pomegranate Tiger's third full-length release to date, and their first since 2016's Boundless. On this latest offering, just as on Boundless, Andres demonstrates his expertise in guitars, drums, bass, and programming, only this time, additional help is provided on guitars by former member Matt Shaheen, and the pair certainly show that they don't lack in musical talent.

All Input Is Error has a reasonably lengthy running time for a progressive metal instrumental album, at 45 minutes in total and featuring nine tracks. The odd, trippy Medusa-looking cover art creature is a good indication of what complexity you should be expecting from this album; it's quite simply structural mayhem. The chaotic rhythms, compositions, and ridiculous amount of genre fusions is remarkable, and the musicianship skills are quite simply superb, especially when putting into account this is mostly just a one-man performance! But don't expect this not to be a challenging listen; it's certainly going to need your full attention, and will often have your head spinning in all directions.

Andres immediately demonstrates his instrumental proficiency on the opening track "Devils To Ourselves", through double-kicking, jazzy drumming patterns, heavy djenty chugging riffs, classic-sounding solos, and sci-fi atmospheric synth work. This opener is one of the more accessible tracks, concentrated more on the groove factor than complexity, which is something the album generally lacks, and the drumming is clearly the one element that stands out most of all. From here on, the album flows well; it's the kind of flow that makes the album feel as if it's going through one long continuous track, even with minor interludes throughout several tracks. This works very well for a time, but after forty minutes it can make the listener's head spin (perhaps uncontrollably towards the end, making the listener become, perhaps, irritable). Thankfully, there are several unpredictable moments in the songwriting that keep you engaged, just enough to stick it out to the end.

There are several occasions that don't quite sit right with me, the first being what sounds to me like an electronic combination of house and trap, and maybe even several instances of dub, which are featured more so on the tracks "The Great Filter" and "Poison Pill". These are songs with, what I can only describe as having all-over-the-place manic structures, containing as many genres and styles that you can possibly think of, from djent and metalcore, to electronic and alternative metal, whilst even throwing in some smooth blues-style guitar solos. The second thing that doesn't quite sit right with me is the riffs, which are, for a large portion, djent-based, as he (in my opinion) tends to go overboard with the chugging; maybe this is an area he could have done with improving.

Now, just when you think things couldn't possibly get any more bizarre about the structure, you're then met by the final two, completely out of the ordinary tracks, "All Input Is Error" and "Keyways". The title track begins with a mesmerizing soft acoustic outro (nothing even remotely close to what the rest of the album has had to offer), which continues steadily through to the ending song, before which you're met by quite an impressive jazzy drum solo. These two final tracks provide a vital relieving space from those endless chugging djenty riffs and complex songwriting compositions (which were bordering on too much for my poor ears at that point). Again, this is one of the few occasions where he shows his true musicianship capabilities, providing more than just djenty prog with chugging riffs and electronics. If only we heard more from this softer side, his classical string instrumentation, along with his impressive drumming, as these are the areas in which he seems to thrive in most, if you ask me.

Overall, All Input Is Error isn't entirely what the album title suggests; there are several occasions when your mind will be blown, yet times when you'll be left expecting more, and unsatisfied. The style certainly won't appeal to everyone as a whole, but that's not saying there'll be nothing within this manic, complex album that won't appeal to you; there is bound to be something that catches your ear, and that's what's best about this album, I believe.