THE SHEPHERD'S DREAM

I got this album from the band as a gift some weeks ago and I have been trying to decode it since then. The CD comes in a wooden type of cd case and that kinds of gives the game (music) away. This is indeed pretty original stuff.

This is a type of music that is a bit alien to me. Actually, make that very alien to me. The music here is more classical music than rhythmic rock/jazz/whatever. Hence my problems relating to it.

This album, which in my ears is one fifty minutes long piece of music, starts very silently with some cello and woodwinds. Some flutes, violins and even some accordion joins and leaves the music throughout. But mostly, this album is dominated by woodwinds and cello. Most of the music is pretty understated and demands a heck of a lot of the listener. The end of the album, a piece of music they have christened Visions of Arcadia rises to a kind of a crescendo. Then the music dies and you reach for the replay button again......... and again..... and again.

This album demands a heck of the listener. I thought Flairck and Aranis was on the edge of my ability to understand music. This band and this album has challenged me like no album has challenged me before. It has taken me some time to decode it and find an album of good quality. I would not call it a great album though. The music is too subtle and too understated for my liking. But it is still a good album which will bring joy to the fans of this band in ProgArchives. I do recommend it although I have my reservations. A big plus for the packaging.

3 stars