CASSANDRA

Power trio from South Wales,formed in 2002 through the meeting of singer/guitarist Nick James, bassist Matt Clarke and drummer Donal Owen.They produced two little-known albums, ''The pictures within'' (2003) and ''Approaching From an Oblique Angle'' (2005), along with the two-track EP ''Blacklight'' from 2006.Actually the eponymous 19-min. track from the EP made it to the band's third and mostly known release ''Cassandra'' from 2007.

The album consists of four compositions,two long epics and two shorter tracks.The band seems to be heavily influenced by the energy of RUSH and the atmospheres of RIVERSIDE and a mix of these two styles give a good description of the band's sound.The longer cuts aren't exactly tightly connected,seem more like separate pieces of music stuck together with overstretched powerful heavy grooves and rather boring psychedelic passages with effects.Still the band produces some high energy and decent esoteric atmospheres,when vocals added, showing good potential.The shorter tracks are straightforward Heavy Rock pieces,again the level of energy is high,but they sound too commercial with simple structures and no surprises at all.

25 Yard Screamer have worked well on creating deep vocal-based atmospheres,but need huge improvement on the most important part of (prog) music:Composition.If this part is developed,then we can expect some really dynamic and interesting music by these guys.