ISILDURS BANE & STEVE HOGARTH: COLOURS NOT FOUND IN NATURE

The main attractive this album has to offer to the typical prog listener is clearly the vocal finesse, emotional richness and (when needed) powerful delivery, all provided by the notable Steve Hoggart, whom we find here in some time-off between Marillion performances.

Nevertheless, more interesting to the progger seriously involved with Avant-prog and Chamber Rock can be the textures interwoven by Isildurs Bane, that go well beyond a simple acompaniment or instrumental background. They contribute a stunning revision of contemporary counterpoint composition adapted to the occasion.

If one looks here for the same kind of dynamic that prevails in Prog, is probably wasting time. But the Swedish compensates this by far, for example, with an amazing treatment of the strings that takes advantage of the ability to slide between tones allowed by the absence of frets (just listen to "Ice Pop", the first track). A fine addition to the prog explorer's collection