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Methexis - The Fall Of Bliss CD (album) cover

THE FALL OF BLISS

Methexis

 

Crossover Prog

3.68 | 58 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

lazland
Prog Reviewer
3 stars As other reviewers' have pointed out, Greece is not exactly awash with progressive rock bands, which is somewhat surprising given the success of Vangelis (yes, I do regard him as prog) over the years.

This release, The Fall Of Bliss, is the brainchild of one Nikitas Kissonas, who plays all instruments, barring drums, which feature the talents of Nikas Miros, who is a talent for sure. As with all albums by multi-instrumentalists, the first stopping point in any listen and appreciation is whether said artist is up to the mark, because, in general terms, it is fair to say that most musicians tend to specialise, and specialise well, in a chosen field.

Well, I am happy to report that Nikitas more than measures up in this field. No, he is no Mike Oldfield (I doubt he would welcome such a comparison, actually), but what he has given us here is an album that is not only very well produced, but played with consummate skill, especially the guitar and bass work, in my opinion.

About my only real gripe is the vocals. They are not uniformly poor, far from it, but, at times, they are not as effective or strong as the music which accompanies them, and I would hope that Nikitas might consider bringing in a more seasoned vocalist for any future project.

The album brings with it a wide variety of styles and tastes, and is an enjoyable journey for it. Influences include clear Porcupine Tree references, some wonderful jazzy eclectic turns, and the type of melodic symphonic prog that I have always enjoyed. My personal highlight of the album is the fourth track, Lines On A Bust, which is simply sumptuous musically, with a delicate piano leading us into the track, whilst the vocals do rather shine here (in spite of my earlier comments), and the whole effect is rather haunting, and will deeply appeal to those here who appreciate some of the more intelligent post romantic music.

The main event is the title track itself, which is split into four movements. The opener is a gentle acoustic guitar piece, with birdsong accompanying. What follows is, in the main, rather brooding, but never less than engaging, with an eclectic array of moods and sounds, verging from the primitively heavy to rather gorgeous. I just love the orchestral pieces during the third movement.

All in all, this is a very satisfying piece of work which, whilst not setting the world alight, is very much, in my opinion, a solid base from which this clearly talented artist can move forward and build on in future releases.

Three stars for this. A very good album which I have no hesitation in recommending to those who are on the lookout for new talent and something a little bit different.

My thanks to Nikitas for sending me the cd to review.

lazland | 3/5 |

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