BELIEVERS & DECEIVERS

Swedish combo Brighteye Brison sure is surpassing itself with each new release: the progressiev vision that took flight in the pretty album "Stories" is now a powerful reality in the 2008 effort "Believers & Deceivers". The ever present influences from The Flower Kings, Yes, Kayak and Spock's Beard remain rooted in the band's compositions and arrangements, but something important is new here - a major confidence in the task of developing musical ideas and ordaining multiple themes in adequate sequences. Two for the four tracks comprised in this album are epics whose time spans range between the 20 and 35 minute marks. Talking about typical features of prog rock... Anyway, 'Pointless Living' kicks off the album with a solid rocking dynamics: the funk-instilled bass lines provide fresh air to the amalgam of guitar and dual keyboards. The synth solo in the middle is a magnificent reminder of "King Arthur"-era Wakeman. This might be a very god example of a good song that post-Neil Spock's Beard should be but never seems to be capable of writing... but Brighteye Brison is, ha!! As catchy as 'Pointless Living' is, it is actually the least great piece in the album. The greater things get started with track 2 'After the Storm', whose basic sonorities are very related to the opener, but the vibe feels very different due to the inclusion of notable jazzy elements in the rhythmic development; a special mention has to go to the impressive guitar lead whose power allows it to make itself be noticed among the keyboards' predominant role. This track sounds like a weird yet attractive mixture of "Adam & Eve"- Flower Kings and "End is Beautiful"-Echolyn. A great job, indeed. 'The Harvest', which is the first marathon track, gets started with a ceremonious church organ intro that eventually gives way to a heavily Kayak-related section. Later on, things get reconstructed on a spacey note (like Eloy-meets- Fruitcake), featuring a curious distorted bass solo floating among the eerie synth ambiences. Next is a climatic portion that includes slight quotations from Genesis' prog staple 'Watcher of the Skies'. this section deserved a longer expansion, in my opinion, since the emergence of a new sung section feels too early to me. Fortunately, the next instrumental section does find a proper expansion for its symphonic elaborations and jazz-oriented 5/4 jams: it doesn't feel too short or too extensive, it just feels rightly long. The slow section is based on concise acoustic guitar arpeggios that gradually lead to a fuller group sound; the last climax really rocks the hell out of this piece's epic potential, with a particularly spectacular guitar solo that helps to build a pompous, yet not saturating closure. The last marathon track, 'The Grand Event', states n effective combination of the preceding epic's multicolored splendor and the two shorter songs' dynamic. Starting with a marriage of bucolic acoustic guitars and eerie keyboard layers, the added soprano sax lines contribute a special lyric vibe to the overall mood. Before too long, the group brings on an amazingly agile section, typically Brighteye Brison-style (that is, mixing TFK, Yes and Kayak), with funny inclusions of GG-inspired choral elements. When the track gets to the 8 minute mark, the band turns quite psychedelic: it is the promise of something twisted, which unfortunately isn't entirely accomplished, but all in all, it works as an interlude before the arrival of an Eloy-like section. After the 15 minute mark, the retro symphonic thing reigns again, letting the musical ideas show its catchiness and moderate complexity. I'm not sure I totally enjoy the soliloquy right before the end, but the last instrumental minutes should suffice to complete a very good impression in the receptive listener. While not matching the relevant symphonic pomposity exploited in the excellent Versus X and Thieves' Kitchen 2008 releases, truth is that Brighteye Brison's "Believers & Deceivers" is a very powerful retro symphonic prog item that should appeal to the most deeply melancholic appreciators of the genre. I don't intend to show off any sort of magician capacities, but I feel positive about this album being BB's cornerstone release, a before-and-after in their still ongoing career.