Line up:
Butler - Lead vocals & effects
Toll - guitars
Robin Z. - Keyboards
Case - Bass & backing
Essen - Drums, violin & backing
Tracklisting:
1) Believe 9.58
2) Rock Blossom 6.08
(a second generation state of grace)
3) Duck 6.12
4) The horror of time travel 8.33
5) Spiral 1.00
6) In the trap of the gods 4.08
7) Vampire 4.33
8) Goodbye cruel word 5.37
9) Go on 7.40
Total Time: 53.53
Summary of history:
The band started somewhere in 1991. The band hails from the Netherlands
having recorded one demo called Trapped up to now, they have just released
their first full length album.
The album:
through some coincidence I've managed to get hold of the demo tape Trapped
in the last few weeks and so I've been able to compare them with that demo.
First of all the only difference seems to be the order of the songs.
The first song is a good opener. The dark vocals of the singer takes a little getting used to, but I did it, so can you. The sound is quite heavy, with loud guitars and a bit of a Queensryche atmopshere (yes it's that heavy). Oddly enough the sound also reminds me of Egdon Heath and Twelfth Night (but especially in the case of this song not lyrically, because you might call this song anti-religious, just quoting: 'If you want to crucify me, crucify me upside down" The good keyboardriff is very, very familiar; I wonder where they got it.
Duck isn't about that loudmouthed animal in the water. It's about the ducking that artists have to do when thrown at by the public. The subject of this song is then tomatoes: "the fruit of audience participation follows artistic masturbation".
The fourth song is a song that reminds me a lot of 12th Night at times. Sometimes straight rock, sometimes as quirky as ever.
Arrival on the tape seemed to be the only song not available on this album, but it's the same track as Spiral (or coming close). The track doesn't really make a statement and is meant as a breather.
The next song is almost the best and it's not that heavy. The melody is really terrific with good pianowork between the lines. It's a great song, not in the progressive tradition, but more in the song tradition. This is also the place where Essens violin makes it's entrance and it's really an enhancement.
Vampire seems to me about venerial disease (but I might be right). It has a straight heavy riff and the vocal melody isn't very good. A bit like Threshold, though maybe a little less accessible. The enhance the atmosphere they use an emulated church organ. The climactic ending is frightening with the screaming and the organ and all.
Goodbye Cruel World opens with a strong keyboard riff with a good use of a childrens choir, while the song itself is quite heavy but turns lightfooted at a touch. The quiet part in the middle might have been taken directly from a 12th Night song. And the violin takes its toll.
Go On is a bit on the Egdon Heath side, with those interesting words they seem to have found on obscure pages in obscure dictionaries: flagellant, doxologies. This is the best songs on the album, especially the ending. It starts out atmospheric and melodramatic and turns out to be a great ballad. Goose bumps, honest.
Conclusion:
A heavy and at times quircky form of melodic, progressive rock, full of
energy and original lyrics. The melodies are good, very good even and this
album is a feast to listen to.
Dark lyrics (not always entirely correct, but poetic freedom is a great good), emotional music, bombastic and full sound, enough changes to
last a day and great melodies.
Names that come to mind are Egdon Heath, 12th Night and because of the
freakiness and heaviness even Faith No More (just as heavy and bombastic).
Some songs are a bit more accessible and they aren't even the weakest ones,
which means that if they DO want to go commercial there's still hope for
them.
SI said that they had enough material for two CDs: well, I'm waiting.
Jurriaan Hage