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Leap Day - Awaking the Muse CD (album) cover

AWAKING THE MUSE

Leap Day

 

Neo-Prog

3.97 | 122 ratings

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Tarcisio Moura
Prog Reviewer
4 stars Excellent debut album by this outstanding dutch band. Oh well, what should I expect from a group of such seasoned musicians like these? itīs a dream team, really. Drummer Koen Roozen and guitarrist Eddie Moulder comes from Hollandīs neo prog king Flamborough Head, while keyboardist Derk Evert Waalkens worked with King Eider. Peter Stel (bass) came via Nice Beaver. With a such illustrious members, one can only expect something extraordinaire, and so is Awaking The Muse.

Ok, maybe no great novelties here or anything groundbreaking. Only fantastic, emotional, well written and perfomed mix of symphonic and neo prog. And , if happen to know his work with FH, there are simply wonderful solos by Moulder (who also shines on the instrumental project Trion). The band has two keybaords players which gives the a beautiful, multi layred sound. That might work wonders on live shows. I have to say that, at first, I did not like Jos Hartevelds voice very much. After a few spins I changed my mind and now I think he fits in quite well.

Of course all this technique would not be enough to produce a good CD, but those guys proved to be also fine writers. All tracks are good with no real lows, you can actually listen to the whole album with the same pleasure from start to finish. Highlights are surely Moulderīs brilliant soloing: the guy has a style that reminds me of Steve Hackett, Jan Akkermann, Andrew Latimer and Mirek Gil. And still he has a personal way to deliver terrific lines all over the CD. The rhythm section is strong and versatile, while the keyboards are varied and tasteful. Production could be quite better, though (the drums suffered the most damage, as far as I can hear). But the band does their job with such passion and skillfullness such potencial problem becomes just a minor annoying detail.

Conclusion: greatt first one! I wonīt give Awaking The Muse a five star rating yet because even if the results here are brilliant, I still think there is room for some improvement, specially if you consider the excellence of their members. Still, a 4,5 rating is quite fitting. A band to watch for. Highly recommended!

Tarcisio Moura | 4/5 |

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