Metal Underground.com

One of the pitfalls of progressive rock is that a band can progress so far away from traditional song structure that a feeling of incoherence sets in. Things worsen when the songs become longer. And that is the problem Milk White Throat has on its self-titled EP, with two songs stretching beyond the 10-minute mark and featuring wildly divergent styles throughout.

To be sure, the EP shows off the band's instrumental skill set well. There are some excellent guitar solos in both "Home" and "Still," the 10-minute-plus tracks that bookend the disc, even though both of those tunes feel quite bloated.

Things are much better on the two middle tracks. "Mother I," features some excellent singing and is perfectly edited, so to speak, down to a manageable six minutes, 48 seconds. "On The Road" features some superb drumming and interesting shifts between hardcore shouting and clean vocals, and is even more tightly edited (just over three minutes) with a great whammy-bar-laced solo.

Of the two 10-minute monoliths, "Still," which ends the EP, is the better one, owing to an excellent quiet opening and some excellent bass guitar in the middle, even though it ends awkwardly.

Milk White Throat shows off plenty of instrumental skill on its self-titled EP, but often progresses too far away from traditional song structure. Still, on two of the five tracks, the band gets its mix of weirdness and melody just about right.