PIECE OF CAKE

This is a fine debut from this young Israel based band. They are relatively new on the prog stage, however have some tricky songs in the back already, sometimes nearly eclectic I would say. Thus 'Piece Of Cake' definitely shows them on a promising way. The band offer material which is heavy melodic rock basically. Guy Meiri for example attracts attention with reasonable variety - which means on one hand he plays a metal infected guitar with heavy riffs - however he's also skilled at charming acoustic and accentuated work in a neo prog outfit.

The six songs are clearly more focussed on the interplay than on solo excursions. The opener Squares belongs to the tricky exemplars while providing twists and turns, constantly changing time signatures - even including some ska impressions, symphonic keyboards aso. A track which needs some time to explore the brilliance - especially regarding the compositional aspect. Female vocalist Sapir has a solid voice, capable of development, at least for the mix it seems to me a bit single-tracked though over the complete course.

As for a special impression a nice sparkling piano is striking on Alis Grave Nil - another one showing skilled interplay concerning all instruments - including the vocals a nearly perfect contribution for a prog sampler maybe in order to get some promotion and attention. Inverted Smile follows, very close to common prog metal stuff, where Arabesque Kiss seems to be much more mainstream oriented, but only for the first minute until they return to the progressive homeground. The track title points to some native elements, this time it's an oriental dance rhythm which suddenly appears somewhere in between.

Summer Haze represents the obligatory ballad - nice, but not that challenging when you compare with the other songs. The same applies to Monstrous Sound which is provided with alternating neo progressive and metal elements. Anyhow, to sum it up - overall this is a pleasant event - I recommend to give 'Piece Of Cake' a listen. The album songs are available on their bandcamp page - worth it to be checked out indeed.

This is basically the same sort of music, what would be later released as Heather Findlay's Phoenix Suite (also of EP size), mix of Pop-Rock,, some easy going Prog Metal references and a twist. Beautiful vocals and skilled musicianship from the rest of a pack, "Piece of Cake" being offered for free is something that wouldn't cloud my judgment, but nevertheless I have to admit it as an advantage (free download sanctioned by band means something). Its songs has short lives, clocking from just over 4 minutes to six and a bit, but the band manages to play all their ideas even on such a short tenure. Great!