LIVING WATER

US band TIME HORIZON can trace their roots back to 2004, when Ralph Otteson and Bruce Gaetke started working on a project. The cooperation leads to a friendship and a band in that order, Time Horizon born somewhere along the way. "Living Water" is their debut album, and was released through Angel Noise Records in the summer of 2011.

Time Horizon has made an accomplished debut album with "Living Water", where the first half in particular impresses with its distinctly harmonic, melodic and uplifting variety of symphonic progressive rock. The AOR and pomp rock tendencies on the second half aren't as enticing to my ears, but pleasant enough material as such. Fans of bands like Saga and Spock's Beard should be something of a target audience for this band I presume, in particular if you don't mind lyrical topics of a religious nature.

The best drive in the last couple of years. Very beautiful and soulful vocals. At the level of technicality. There is unnecessary complexity. On the complexity of the group is between spocks beard and Echolyn. Music in the measure is complex and very beautiful. The group is slightly reminiscent of Kansas and CRYPTIC VISSION. Musicians play a powerful and professional. Very good keyboard, which is characterized by meticulous technique. Pritenzy no to a single one of the musicians. For me, this is the best release of 2011. I recommend to all fans of beautiful, soft and melodious music. I am sure that this drive is very pleasant to fans of teams: Genesis, Marillion, IQ, Pendragon, Izz, Magic Pie, Moon Safary, Kansas, CRYPTIC VISSION, It Bites, Ines, The Vow, Clepsydra

Ever so often, seemingly out of nowhere, a new album crops up and put on the spot to keep my finger stabbing at the repeat button. Perfectly played and arranged with sterling performances by all four musicians, intelligently written and diverse, full of freshness and sinceity, with interesting arrangements and powerful vocals, Time Horizon have created a symphonic-progressive gem that deserves to be heard all around the world. Everything on here comes across like a whole-hearted attempt at a vintage sound that was present in renowned groups. The content can be described like something of a mix between prime-time Kansas, ELP, Yes and Genesis - with modern contemporaries being bands such as Spock's Beard (at their melodic side), Cryptic Vision or Mars Hollow... The music on CD 'Living Water' develops gradually, giving each idea enough time to truly sink into our mind. My highest praise for this masterful blend of complexity and melody!

Living Water is a debut album by Time Horizon, consisting of Ralph Otteson on keyboards, vocals, Bruce Gaetke / vocals, drums & percussion, Dave Dickerson / guitars, Steve Gourly / bass with Jeff Garner on Guitars & Vocals and Phil Segrue on Bass, the latter two being special guests on this record. It is a 10 song journey clocking up at almost 54 minutes.

The album opens up with 1. Life Fantastic (7:38). Mild percussion and some bass riffage with synth joining later make for an interesting start. Nice guitar passages here and there. Quite pleasant and adventurous vocals come in near 2 min mark. I dig that guitar tone, think it could have been louder in the mix. A good start. (7,5/10)

2. Living Water Prelude (1:09) is a little number which showcases several vocal harmonies and acts as a transition between 1st and 3rd compositions.(7/10)

3. Age of Wonders (7:16) A spacey start. Vocals after 2nd minute. A good keyboard solo near 5-minute mark transitioning into a respectable guitar solo. Can hear Yes influence in the writing.(7/10)

4. Time Horizon (4:11) begins with a synth pattern with a baby cry. Robot voice after the 1st minute, then vocals appear. This one is even spacier than the previous song.(7,5/10)

5. Forgiveness (7:14) starts with a drum intro, then guitar and bass (fretless?) join. Very melodic and soulful vocals. Guitar solo after 4 min-mark, when the pace picks up. Not a big fan of 'yes-yes-yes, forgiveness' line. Other then that, a pretty nice song.(7,5/10)

6. Feel the Change (4:32) is a different composition, mood-wise. The guitar playing here brings Rush to mind. Keyboard solo after 2nd minute, guitar is ripping it up after 3rd. A very Styx-like track.(6,5/10)

7. Me Chili Caliente (2:49) is a fully acoustic number, has an intro which develops into a (sort of ) melody at 1:30. It is calm and relaxing.(6/10)

8. I Am Not Alone (Til the Dawn) (8:35) starts off with a full sound, nice guitar melodies after 1st minute. Piano after 2 minutes, vocals come in (it's a ballad at this point). The vocal delivery is on point, very Steve Perry(Journey)-like, the voice is similar too. A dynamic shift before 6th minute with quite impressive guitar soloing, vocals return later. Nice.(8/10)

9. Living Water (3:24) begins with the same vocal harmonies from the eponymous prelude but this time with some sparse instrumentation to support. Have to admit - really nice vocal work in here, fun stuff. (7,5/10)

Ending the album 10. Paradise (7:00) has a guitar intro this time, like the swing early on. Keyboards act like a vocal support + satisfying organ pressence. Spoken words after the 3rd minute, everything else is laid back in this section. After that we return back to the theme for a positive finish.(8/10)

Living Water is a good neo-prog album, it maintains its own identifiable sound, even with such a variety of influences like Kansas, Styx, Pink Floyd and Yes (if you like those bands, you'll probably like this record). The music on here is built around pleasant melodies and supported by driving guitars, symphonic keyboards and rich vocal harmonies.

My only complaints would be the line in the 5th song and length, - I'd like it to be shorter for a better experience. Other than that, this is a 4 PA star album.