Spastic Ink
Ink Complete

Let's start by saying that the rating that will be assigned to this album should not be considered too seriously, for various reasons that will become clear at the end of the review.
Born from the minds of three musicians named Ron Jarzombek (guitar), Pete Perez (bass), and Bobby Jarzombek (drums), Spastic Ink are perhaps one of the clearest examples of what many today consider progressive metal: a concentration of technique, mostly for its own sake, which sacrifices the emotional aspect of music in favor of the technical one.
Released in 2001, this "Ink Complete" remains to this day the only album testimony (alongside "Ink Compatible" from 2004) of the work of this hyper-group, and listening to it, one might say fortunately: despite the fact that we are facing an apparently extremely "fascinating" album that might impress at first impact, especially regarding the technical aspect, delving deeper into the product, one quickly realizes that beyond an impressive instrumental display, there's very little behind it.
Guitar solos of unheard-of difficulty, now fast and sharp, now slowed down and ideally closer to fusion, very complex bass sections, and a drum always ready to change times, however, do not make this "Ink Complete" an epochal work and it is for this reason that the best-executed episodes seem to be those where the band does not get lost in useless and sterile virtuosity, and it is thus that songs stand out such as the aggressive and more direct "See, And It's Sharp", particularly powerful and reminiscent of the techno-thrash of Watchtower (of which Ron was not only the guitarist but also the main composer), or the sweet ballad "Eights Is Enough", endowed with a mood much closer to fusion jazz rather than the techno-prog so dear to the band; it is instead in the moments when the latter dominates that Spastic Ink sins of excessive self-confidence, proposing fragmented, entirely deconstructed pieces, with solos chasing one another, yet without a precise reason.
Trying to give a definitive rating to a work like this turns out to be quite complex because those who love albums where the technical aspect is absolutely privileged will easily shout masterpiece. On the other hand, there are those who seek something more than a sterile display of exhibitionism in music, and for that segment of the audience, "Ink Complete" will seem nothing more than a chaotic essay of cold instrumental technique.