The Alabama, U.S. instrumental prog metal/fusion group OSV has been around for a number of years and to say they keep a low profile would be a real understatement. I recently heard about the latest of their many albums especially when I heard that famed prog metal guitarist Marcel Coenen (Lemur Voice, Sun Caged) was now their regular guitarist. The thing I most liked about this band is just the shear joy of creation going on. You can tell that this music is being made by musicians who love what they do and stick to what they know best – creating sound instrumental fusion-inspired prog rock with plenty of space to let their guest soloists shine. If this style of music is at all your thing then you’ll enjoy OSV for sure. OSV is an outstanding "under the radar" band with tremendous musical ability and very dynamic songwriting!

With Time Zone, OSV releases their ninth album, following their tradition by serving us an interesting and challenging album. OSV's music is progressive, instrumental and tends to shift more and more towards the heavy fusion side of music. Like I wrote in my previous review (2015, see review) the name OSV no longer stands for the names of the current band members, for original keyboard player Brandon Vaughn has only returned to add some soloing on the previous album but the black and whites have been played by Mathieu Fiset for quite a while now. Both founding members; drummer Gary Oppert and bass player Steve Sexton remain and also guitar player Marcel Coenen is a steady factor and has contributed his flashy playing to OSV's albums for several years now.

Time Zone goes back to a sort of band feeling, with the only guests Jonas Tamas and Lee Luland contributing on two and one song respectively. Therefore, the impact of the Dutch axe wielder is massive on this album. Generally Time Zone celebrates Coenen's fabulous playing especially when piano and fusion minded keyboards are used to create a perfect balance in the music. Listen to the album's opener Hour At Hand and you will find strong piano alongside a cool Hammond organ , topped off with amazing soloing by Coenen. The following Red Code takes the music a step further towards Planet X, LTE and Cosmosquad; heavily drenched in fusion and still retaining the accessible melodies. Musically, Time Zone has a prominent bass guitar in the mix, something bass fanatics really will appreciate. Merciful Fate sees both Jonas as well as Lee guesting on the guitar changing the style slightly; a nice addition and variation. I do appreciate the fine compositions on the album and love the well created interaction between keys and guitar.

Time Zone could follow in the footsteps of the bands I mentioned before and the jazzy influences of the piano make my heart melt a bit. Lapse Of Judgement is close to brilliant and Great Divide is an awesome fusion ballad. The compositions definitely are up to Planet X standard.