Children of Nova's The Complexity of Light is a lengthy EP that owes some debt to the early incarnations of the Mars Volta and Sparta, but the band is probably well aware of that. That doesn't necessarily render this EP an automatic listen for fans of either band, though.

The opening title track at least proves that they're not necessarily aiming for the lightning-quick complexities of the former, or the more punk-rooted, aggressive tendencies of the latter. Instead, they pull TMV's demented melodies and falsetto reaches and Sparta's spaciness and effortless anthem abilities. What you get in turn is a pretty decent song with some questionably wanky, Coheed-ian moments that take the track beyond an otherwise effectively concise breach and into unnecessary lengthening.

With these half-dozen songs topping out at about 33 minutes, that's a theme that the EP unfortunately wallows in. "Aracaedion" repeats the trick of its preceding track, with some wailing vocals and guitars in the bridge; it's the same idea that didn't add much to the song the first time around, and it largely has the same lack of effect here. "Second Sight Blackout" opens up with some spacey, drifting guitars that work well, but the song gets a bit reliant on super corny, high-pitched backing vocals and guitar squalls.

The rest of the EP continues much in the same fashion, but feels middling and not as dynamic as it could be considering its often structureless positioning. This isn't bad, certainly, but it's got a few questionable elements and occasionally seems to go overboard. Stick to de-lousing in your comatorium, but keep a conscious eye on Children of Nova for now in case they blossom into something greater.

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The Complexity of Light
Arcaedion
The Fall of Aphonia
The Order