HYBRIS

Like a windy day on the water, Hybris continuously, predictably, rises and falls with intensity. Sometimes they play soft, then they swell--but never to tsunami-level--and then they die back down again. Also like the waves, it is all too easy to become accustomed, after a while failing to notice the space between crests, with the certainty that nothing too unexpected or different is coming.

So is this a bad thing? When the musicianship and composition is this tight, certainly not, because this album really does sound fantastic: I love the clear and bouncy bass, the mellotron swells, the delicate flute, and the deceivingly natural ebbs and flows in the songs. Unlike others, I only hear traces of relations to classic prog--Anglagard function more as a chamber group than a rock band. If you've always wanted a set-up like this--as I have--then Hybris really will do it for you.

I'm certainly glad that Anglagard came around when they did, but I'm not going to let that induce me to rate this as a masterpiece when I really think it is simply an hour of wonderfully played and produced music. As an important caveat, I believe if I saw this performed live, I would be much more impressed, due to the variety of instrumentation and attention to detail.

Classically influenced progressive rock played on vintage instruments. Nothing revolutionary, nothing groundbreaking, and by extension, not a masterpiece...but most definitely worth owning.