LOST HORIZON

French neo-prog outfit Eye 2 Eye continue to suffer somewhat with line-up changes as while Philippe Benabes (keyboards) and Didier Pegues (drums, backing vocals, keyboards) formed the band all the way back in 2002 and guitarist Bruno Pegues was initially involved in 2004 before joining fully in time for their 2017 album 'The Light Bearer', they have again been through some changes. That album had Michel Cerron as the lead singer, but he changed that role to backing singer for 2020's 'Nowhere Highway', and while he reprises that role as a guest on this the next release, Jack Daly (lead singer on 2009's 'After All?' and 'Nowhere Highway') has left, being replace by Paul Tilley while the band is now a quartet with multiple guests as they no longer have a bassist either. Guest violinist on the last album was Marie Pascale Vironneau, and she played a major part, but that role has now been taken on by Elise Bruckert and it is somewhat diminished, although highly impactful when it arrives.

This reminds me greatly of the Neo we used to hear in the early Nineties when bands were trying to work out what they were doing, dipping their toes into the nascent prog metal area without really going whole hog. There is some venom here, and that combined with the heaviness makes me feel Eye 2 Eye have been listening to Credo/Freewill along with some Mentaur, although the very fact that many progheads will not know who I am talking about fills me with sadness (the new Credo album is due very soon indeed). While there is no doubt it will please those who enjoy this style of music, I again feel the violin is an opportunity missed and if that had been brought more fully into the arrangements then we would be talking about quite a different album indeed. That being said, this is still a pleasant release while never reaching the heights of being essential. I do hope they manage to stabilise the line-up and get the next album in a somewhat quicker fashion as they need to build some momentum and they deserve to be more highly regarded than they are.

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