ALIVE AND KICKING

Recorded on the band's tour in support of the 'Seven Chambers' album at a gig at Zoetermeer's Boerderij venue on September 14th, 2023 the "Australian" prog band comprised Mark Trueack (vocals), Sean Timms (keyboards, vocals), John Greenwood (guitars, vocals), Steve Unruh (violin, flute, guitar, percussion, vocals), Don Schiff (stick) and Chester Thompson (drums). That is one heck of a rhythm section by anyone's standards, I first saw Chester duelling with Phil Collins on the 'Duke' tour back in 1980 (and still have his autograph), while it has been more than 30 years since I fell in love with The Rocket Scientists where Don was playing his trade at the time. Mark and Sean were the founders of Unitopia back in 1996, while they are also members of United Progressive Fraternity alongside Steve. This means we have a band of seasoned professionals, who can mix and change styles and approach as the need arises.

Having Steve Unruh in the mix means the sound can change quite dramatically from having two picked guitars to one of those guitarists crunching chords and Steve then wailing away on violin. Mind you, the short percussive duet between Chester and Steve on "The Uncertain" is also a delight. There must be times when Unruh is checking in his mind as to not only what notes are coming up soon, but what instrument he needs to hand, as he switches and changes throughout. They can be symphonic, heavy prog, funk or bringing in jazz, which makes for a very diverse sound. All of this is tempered by the highly melodic vocals of Mark while the band are as happy playing short(er) songs as they are epics, with the double CD/Blu-ray set including two which are more than 20 minutes in length, and a few under 10 (although nothing under six minutes, excluding a 45 second introduction). This is dynamic progressive rock music which truly is just that, powering along on all cylinders. Remember, Chester was 75 when this album was recorded, yet he is still hitting the skins just as he has throughout his career with the likes of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Santana, Genesis and Phil Collins, and shows no sign at all of slowing down yet.

But what makes this band so good is they ability to change emotion and direction in the middle of a song, moving from belting heavy prog to acoustic and delicate, allowing the vocals to take centre stage, but also never being afraid to be dramatic and bombastic when the time is right. This is a perfect introduction to anyone yet to come across a superb band.

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