Into the Presence or ITP is the brain child of Tim Alexander and Luis Maldonado. You may remember Tim as the drummer from Primus, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer. They are about to release one of the most refreshing albums I have heard in years on April 28. The self titled album is due out on Razor and Tie Records and was recorded in Tim's Ghost Town Studios.

ITP's album is silky smooth power vocals over grinding riffs and lumbering rhythm section. Add a dash of cello to class up the album and you get a recipe for the best album released since...well since I can even remember.

I'm man enough to admit, if Maldonado's voice was an anthropomorphic female, I would have sex with it 60 times a day. That is also how many times I have listened to this album just today. I wake up in the morning and roll over my latest bar wench conquest and put this album on. (women love writers don't fool yourself) I don't stop listening to the album until I retire after guilt ridden sex with the night's winnings.

Anyway, Maldonado's voice is perfection. He has the ability to sing melodically low and scream when he feels the need to emote on certain lyrics. His voice could fill an entire arena like Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin or Roger Daltry of The Who. Listening to his voice gives me a funny feeling in my stomach that I haven't felt since I was 13 and touching my first boob. It is a feeling of excitement, hope, and wide-eyed wonderment. What is this thing of beauty I am hearing and how can I get more of it?

Maldonado is a master vocalist, but is also the band's guitarist. He lays down powerful riffs the size of Lou Ferrigno. The biggest surprise is that Maldonado can also rip it up on the guitar. It isn't just a heavy memorable riff, he then lights the strings on fire when he isn't luring you to your death with his sweet siren song. I can only hope that he is able to pull off both live.

Complimenting Maldonado's guitar work is a penis throbbing rhythm section anchored by Tim. I found myself tapping my foot and helping Tim keep the time and I am a white guy with no sense of rhythm. My reports on the album is that Paz Lenchantin (Zwan, A Perfect Circle, Melissa Auf Der Mar) played bass on the record. Her effortless bass playing works well to accent Tim's thundering playing style. They both help augment each and every song laying the ground work for Luis Maldonado to croon, scream, and shred his way through the song.

I wanted to talk about each and every song individually, but that would take up too much space. Each song from End Game to Coming Home is as memorable as the preceding song. It is a perfect record with no album filler or hastily recorded duds. I can not say enough about this absolutely refreshing and jaw dropping band and their self-titled album. Their talent, musical ability, and song work is stupendous and they are by far the best album released this year, if not in the past decade.

If you don't buy Into the Presence's album Into The Presence, you can turn in your rock n' roll badge. You don't deserve it. The album will be released digitally (iTunes) on April 28. Check out their MySpace for their latest tour dates. Hopefully, we will have a full review of their live act shortly.