Lucid Fly is an alternative/progressive rock band from Los Angeles, California. Two names are listed on their facebook, vocalist Nikki Layne, and guitarist Doug Mecca. Some reviews I have read have described them as Evanescence meets A Perfect Circle, and I personally can hear that, but I also hear so much more there. This was not an easy disc to review, and not because it is bad or hard to listen to in that way. To review or even take the time to listen to Building Castles In Air, requires a full one hundred percent attention to the details. Layers of guitars and other instrumentation, along with its ever-changing dynamics, takes a keen ear to pick up. Layne's vocals are emotive, clear, and really are captured perfectly here. Her voice can go from angry to melancholic, and just plain beautiful, even during the same song. The first two songs illustrate that fact, especially the second one, Circles Into Squares. Another aspect of the band that I can appreciate that, sometimes can be missed by some listeners, is the lyrics. Again emotive, and thoughtful and they make you think. Next To Strange is the longest track on the disc at just over five and a half minutes. The middle instrumental section, has a Aenmia era Tool vibe. The song like many of the others are not saturated with tons of distorted guitars, but more overdriven guitars, that ring through. The Opposite, is another track that is full of dynamics, showing Nikki's strength, her emotion she puts in her vocals. Mascot is another favorite track of mine, the stop and go heavier rhythms, with the cleaner guitar verses, again shows how Lucid Fly uses dynamics to create memorable melodies. Follow Through follows it, a slower song that requires that attention I mentioned earlier, to hear everything the song has to offer. No I in Voice and Vision of Granduer as well as closer Ribbons, all are mid paced songs, with a lot of similarities, but enough to make sure you aren't listening to the same song repeated. Vocal effects(Visions of Grandeur), while closer Ribbons(acoustic guitars, tremolo guitar muted riffs, etc.), is a little more dynamic.

Usually I would go into detail on every song the band has on the disc, but they would ruin your chance to discover something, maybe something I might have missed. While I know this site is called MetalReviews, what I have enjoyed as a reader and a reviewer, is there are no limitation to rock/metal genres or subgenres that we choose to review. Lucid Fly is definitely a band to keep an eye on, with a debut that easily sheds the debut idea, that a band is just “Starting” off. Building Castles In Air, is one of the best sounding debuts, I have heard in the last few years.