PICTURES

Unbelieveable ! It took a lot of listens just to be able to start to comprehend what I was listening to. This is really complex music and I was reminded of the genre of RIO at times. I was also reminded of GENTLE GIANT and VDGG. There are no guitars so the sax, flute and drums lead the way, although percussion really takes on a prominant role on this release, provided by both the drummer and vocalist. By the way the vocals are in English and are well done.This truly is mind blowing music that took me totally by surprise.

The album starts off with the spooky "Introduction" that could be a track on a horror movie. A lot of people describe this album as dark and scary, and suggest the album cover is descriptive of what's inside. But really the only music like that is in this short 1:28 song, and the start of "Herold And King (dloreh)". The rest is just amazing music. "Zero" is a complex instrumental that opens with the keys swirling around with intricate, odd-metered drumming and sax. There is a change of pace after 2 minutes as song builds slowly from almost a standstill to the previous melody. "Pictures" opens with percussion, light keys and vocals. What follows are some cool vocal arrangements ala GG, as the song then slows down to a calm like in the previous song. We then get a flute and vocal melody and more complex instrumental work after 5 minutes. We get an extended sax melody and later a vocal melody.

"Herold And King (Dloreh)" opens with some dark piano melodies, and before 3 minutes we again get some silence as things get experimental and scary. There are some strange vocal sounds and more odd-metered drumming and sax melodies. Some good percussion and what sounds like an array of horns. "Here And Now" boasts some impressive playing for 3 minutes, it's just not that melodic. There is silence again, then the organ builds. Lots of flute later in the song as it becomes more melodic. "Empty Bottles" is the bonus track at over 23 minutes and is quite the ride ! Opening with flute and light drums the drums get louder and it all sounds so good. Sax and vocals come in although drums start to dominate. The songs stops and returns as a jazzy tune with light drums and clarinet. The song continues with flute, keys, sax and loud drums and it all sounds incredible !

This is not for the faint of heart, but more for those who are looking for something that is more challenging and different.