ANALECTA VOLUME 2

"Analecta" was a compilation lent to me by a friend on a whim; just the sort of thing that was tossed over my way thanks to his passing thought that I might be interested in giving it a spin. I took it home with me, and like so many of these sort of compilations, it got lost in a swirling mire of CDs packed around my desk. While cleaning today, I finally found it again. Enclosed in nothing more than a plastic sleeve, it certainly didn't look too impressive, and I can only imagine it came as part of some package as a bonus. Regardless, the facts that it was released by the respected ProgRock Records and that I had heard of so few of the bands made for an interesting prospect. It may not be the sort of thing that I'll listen to for its own merits, but it must be said that "Analecta Volume II" has introduced me to a set of new great bands, saving me the effort of having to find them myself.

Seeing as there is no packaging to speak of, "Analecta" is certainly not the sort of thing I would suggest the less-than-enormously-wealthy to go out and seek for 'collector's purposes'. No, instead- perhaps check out some of the songs included here. Particularly on the 'modern' side of things, I consider myself fairly well up-to-date and informed on the prog rock scene, so you can imagine I was a bit surprised to have only heard of three of the thirteen bands included on the compilation. Sylvan are arguably the most established act included here, having already staked their claim in neo-prog for some time, and deserving every bit of the respect they get. Amaran's Plight (to my knowledge) have only ever released one album, and that record felt more like a tribute to the concept albums of Dream Theater and Queensryche over anything, the chosen selection, "Coming of Age" is one of their best cuts. Lastly, although I had never heard a full album by progressive metal band A Chinese Firedrill, I was certainly aware of them and the sort of excitement they've incited in the respective scene. Barring that, "Analecta" is a fertile ground of great bands I've never heard of before.

In what might be a good or bad thing depending on how you view it, there's not a great deal of variety to the music here, despite the fact that each song is performed by a different band. Here, you have the sort of 'modern prog' sound that ProgRock Records no doubt prefers- it is not detached from the vintage synthesizers and longform songwriting, but there is a more of a metal edge here. In a sense, "Analecta" tells me that progressive rock has adapted to the modern times by fusing itself with metal. Of these, The Third Ending's "Eleven", Invisigoth's "Scars and Dust", and the female-fronted Project Creation's "Growing Feeling" all stood out.

It may have been nice to hear a greater variety of the prog rock being produced nowadays, but "Analecta" is a great source for anyone looking to get a quick crash course in what the current sound of the scene is. Salutations to ProgRock Records for making this all possible!