DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON

Last year I listened to Phideaux their previous effort entitled The Great Leap, I was quite disappointed and even decided not to review it, in general I cannot motivate myself to write about music I don't like. But this album is another story: because of the many positive, often sheer euphoric reviews here on Prog Archives (already 32!) I asked a good friend to borrow me Doomsday Afternoon and from the first listening session I was pleased with their 'new' sound.

The CD Doomsday Afternoon is a concept album with the subtitle An Eco Terror Tale, in a great way supported by mindblowing paintings that look like a blend of Hieronymus Bosch (madness and fear), Vincent Van Gogh (expressive colours) and Gerald Scarfe (venomous look on mankind). The music sounds as a blend of Art-rock, progressive pop and symphonic rock, on one hand melodic and accessible but on the other hand very alternating and elaborate featuring lots of good musical ideas and interesting shifting moods, from dreamy and atmospheric to compelling, a tight mid-tempo or bombastic. I am delighted about the omnipresent 'vintage' keyboard sound like in The Doctrine Of Eternal Ice (Part One with fat Minimoog flights and the warm ARP string-ensemble and Part Two with Minimoog, ARP string-ensemble, Fender Rhodes electric piano and the distinctive swinging clavinet sound) and Candybrain featuring an acoustic rhythm guitar with Hammond organ. We can also enjoy an orchestra with woodwind instruments (French horn, clarinet and trumpet) and violins and the both male as female vocals are strong and varied, including Matthew Parmenter who performed in 2005 on the USA Nearfest festival along Le Orme and IQ. My highlight on this new album is the final composition (at about 15 minutes): first soaring Hammond organ waves, then a tight mid-tempo with a very tasteful keyboard colouring and strong vocals. During the sparkling violin soli I am in Seventies Kansas Heaven! After a fiery guitar solo the final part contains a melancholical atmosphere (that matches perfectly with the subtitle and concept of Doomsday Afternoon) delivering dreamy paino work and wailing violin play, is this a musical prologue that warnes we are on the brink of polluting ourselves to a slow death?

I am surprised by this varied and tasteful new Phideaux album, I can understand the positive words in other reviews but this is not mainstream progrock or Classic Prog or whatever, this is ..... the new Phideaux!