I love this album. It’s got quite a wide range of sounds. The opening section is rather metallic. It’s one of the most dramatic and heavy progressive rock introductions I’ve heard in a long time. Yet, the bulk of the disc lands in the melodic prog vein. This at times makes me think of certain acts, but overall has a sound of its own. It’s all great stuff.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014  Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.

The section that opens this is quirky and very heavy. It has a lot in common with modern King Crimson, but it’s almost metal at the same time. Still, it’s symphonic. Whatever you call it, though, it’s powerful. They build that out, working through some variants for the first minute and a half or so. Then it gives way to more traditional, melodic progressive rock from there. Some shifts occur within that. As the vocals join it has a definite Yes-like texture. The cut continues to shift and grow as it works forward. There are some powerhouse melodic progressive rock movements built into this. An instrumental section around the four and a half minute mark really makes me think of Yes a lot. The piece keeps evolving from there, though. It has a very positive lyrical message and the music seems to reinforce this. In addition to Yes, I could see Starcastle as a definite musical reference point at times on this piece. There are some killer jams that ensue as this continues. At times it brings back some of the metallic elements of the opening movement.