OSIRIS

Neo-prog from Bahrain you say? Yes, it's true. Osiris surprised probably everybody in the world of music when they appeared at the beginning of the 1980's sporting their impressive brand of neo-prog, showing just how far the many tentacles of progressive rock could reach. Very much a DIY album made by a bunch of admittedly rather talented(and, one suspects, rather wealthy) Yes-and-Genesis fans, Osiris' eponymously-titled debut should have been an amateurish mess; it's not, and for those of you out there who fancy a bit of Marillion or Twelfth Night the surprise will be all the greater. Simply put, 'Osiris' is an excellent slice of 1980's prog, as good as anything by the era's big boys, such as the previously-mentioned twosome, and far better than anyone should have dared to expect. The recording is a bit rough around the edges, due to the lack of decent recording facilities in Bahrain circa the early 1980's, but songs such as the jangling opener 'Fantasy' and it's impressively epic follow up, the 11-minute-long 'Sailors On The Seas Of Fate', still sound great. Particularly impressive are Abdul Razak-Aryan's lush keyboards, which coat the whole album in a glowing array of sounds and textures, whilst lead- guitarist Mohamed Al-Sadequi is a genuine Arabian Pete Holmes. The vocals do tend to get lost in the slightly weak mix(again, a consequence of the low-budget recording conditions) but in truth it's a bit of a moot point. Osiris' music is good enough to render these deficiencies un- important and fans of all good neo-prog will be more than happy to add an other great album to one of the smallest sub-genre's of prog. Highly recommended. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010