GOTTERDAMMERUNG

This first release from Asgard is rather rough and unpolished. The Gregorian chant opening to the album on Antiquum suggests that perhaps this particular neo-prog group will go for some unusual influences and lash together a novel sound; alas, what we finally get when the band let rip is a fairly mediocre sound cobbled together from the cast-off musical ideas of neo-prog legends such as Pendragon and IQ, with perhaps a pinch of early Marillion here and there to spice things up and a pronounced Genesis influence to really drive the cliches home. Zealous neo-prog fans who can't get enough of such things might find something to enjoy here; for my part, I can't hear anything on this album which hadn't been done better previously by their influences.