I never thought that I would enjoy a cd with such a ridiculous title so much. The first (and admittedly silly) thing that popped in my head when I received this and noted the title was, “Hey, isn’t that a Will Smith song from awhile back?” Thankfully, any and all previous misconceptions were dashed the second I pressed play on my stereo. Mindflow’s debut disc, Just The Two Of Us… Me And Them is an impressive collection of technical and melodic heavy metal that is a terrific balance of musicianship and ear pleasing melody. Unlike many of their counterparts in the Progressive Metal genre, Mindflow know when to hold back instead of going all out into a ten minute shredfest. I am actually reminded of Andromeda’s debut at many times throughout the course of the cd. Both bands are progressive to the hilt yet there is hardly a song on each album that tops the eight minute mark. This leads to highly memorable choruses and hooks as well as impressing the listener with some remarkable instrumental passages. Mindflow has another advantage in their corner with the fact that these guys are not only prog, they are hard hitting and heavy as well. The keyboards should also be noted for their brilliantly executed role. From off time and quirky piano passages to string augmentation, they play an important part in making this album a winner. Just The Two Of Us… is a concept record but for the life of me I cannot make out what it is supposed to be about exactly but this leads to the album having several interlude numbers. I don’t really see why the band felt the need to cut these up into completely separate tracks as most of them would have served well as extended intros to the songs they preceded. I am glad to point out however that they aren’t completely useless they are enjoyable in their own right. Because this is a concept record I can only assume that this is partly the reason why the vocals are quite melodramatic. Despite being overtly dramatic in some cases I am otherwise impressed with the range and delivery of the singer.

For a debut, Just The Two Of US… Me And Them shows a lot of promise for this young band from Brazil. They have the talent and can write some truly good songs which is a lot more than I can say about most bands today. I expect a bright future for Mindflow and see them going over fairly well with fans of Technical / Progressive Metal. Just don’t let the title scare you off.