SHADE WITHOUT COLOR

This group of marvellous instrumentalists from Hungary don't push boundaries or present something shockingly new. But they present us with an enjoyable record.

The band doesn't sing, but the record has plenty of lyrics. Most songs have different sound clips from films, citations from books, or interviews. These bring the message forward in a poignant way. Probably better than they could have done themselves.

Ghost Toast found inspiration from all kinds of places, which resulted in a diverse prog album. Their strength lies in binding it all together to a fresh and beautiful whole.

Get Rid Of starts the album heavily. Very much in the style of Rush with a bit of Metallica. I expected the whole album would be like this, but I was wrong 8/10

Leaders is track two, going in a totally different direction. Far more spacey and melodic, with synths and piano. Added to that, are great quotes from Frank Herbert discussing issues with leaders. This is a great track. 9/10

Chasing Time is the longest track on the album, being more than 12 minutes. It brings us yet another sound of Ghost Toast with some Frippertronics before a cello takes over. Then we enter a heavy metal part with some great drumming ad guitar. Many ebbs and flows here, with more hints towards King Crimson, amongst many others. I do wonder why it needed to be this long, although I enjoyed it from start to finish. 7.5/10

Let Me Be No Nearer opens with a beautiful cello and the whole track takes us to the middle east. Although I also believe to hear a reggae beat. But also this song will change dynamics often, with harder and softer parts and some actual singing, by a beautiful female voice. 8/10

Acceptance is lighter and very rhythmic. With some rhythmic shifts here and there and the sound clip is from Jim Carrey. With some wise words. "Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world." 8/10

Deliberate Disguises is another heavier track with some thrash metal. A nice track, but nothing special. 6.5/10

Reaper Man is another fast-paced song. But then longer, clocking 9 minutes. It has its quieter moments and everything is tied together by a drum sticking to the theme. 7.5/10

Whimper is another metal track. Three in a row. Where the first part of the album was very diverse, here we have three songs that are very much alike. Not bad, but also not as good as earlier on the album 7/10

Rejtekbol is the final track and is very chill. It has the beautiful female voice and the cello again. It is a great closer to this album.

This album is 67 minutes. I argue it could have been a bit shorter by skipping one or two of the heavier tracks at the end. I rate this one 3.5 stars. Rounding it up to 4 because of the energy it gives me listening to it.

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