AND THEN THERE IS SILENCE

In the last years, there were several bands who took some prog elements and sad melodies, put them into an elaborated pop music and, then, the new alternative music was borned. Bands like RADIOHEAD, ANATHEMA (later cds) or even COLDPLAY can be included in that kind of "semi-prog alternative" sound. In the another hand we have classic '90s Scandinavian bands, like ANGLAGARD, WHITE WILLOW, SINKADUS or LANDBERK, all them fantastic and truly mellotronic progressive: long themes plenty of emotional and melancholic music, with an always present feeling of sadness, distance and desperation. Well, put togheter both branches and you'll get the Swedish VALINOR'S TREE second effort. "And Then There Is Silence" is pretty much progressive than the alternative bands mentioned above, but quite less than the Scandinavian typical prog groups. It sounds like a good mixture between both genres, with very nice moments even though reiterative. All 70's progressive sound fans can be dissapointed with it, but if for you the new trends are OK, it can be a very good album.

This second album is definitely a more diverse affair than its debut. This will be forever linked to Twin Age's third album that I brought home the same day and I threw myself on those two albums like a madman. After having listened to both albums , I was a MADMAN looking for the first thing to murder that got in my way (gladfully , it was a mosquito or else I would be writing this review from the Jail library) as I was horrified by both. I went back to my dear retailer friend who sold them to me , shoved them down his throat and destroyed the rest of his store. Before I did this, he gave me the money back , and solemnly swore he would never sell such stuff again and begged for his life to be saved. I , of course , did him the favor of buying two other CDs (I went for safety and got Coltrane at the Vanguard Village - Max , when do we get to review Coltrane and why are we not able to give six stars?) .

The music on this album, you ask? Well don't look too much at the prog group Marcello speaks about for I found nothing of the sort and this is different than the previous one . I found this album sort of a cross between Noisy Rock and prog much alike to Hamadryad . This is strictly from memory, though.

I stumbled over the band's name, because the drummer of VALINOR'S TREE Mattias Jarlhed is playing on SIMON SAYS' CD "Paradise Square", a very excellent record that should apply to all fans of Gabriel-era GENESIS which I bought recently. Listening through the album presented here, I have to say it's something completely different from that. And it's true, I can't find much simlarity with bands like WHITE WILLOW, ANEKDOTEN, SINKADUS or LANDBERK apart of the track "Tell Me a Story" which is quite good and could be as well one of ANEKDOTEN or LIQUID SCARLET. It has very Crimson-like guitar/bass playing, a nice mellotronic sound and great drum work as well. But in fact if one would buy the album after listening only to this song before, one would definitely be disappointed. Because for the rest of the album the title fits perfectly. Not really bad at all, but quite below average for a prog album. It varies from mellow alternative or smooth-jazz type songs, nice but not very exciting, to more or less pure alternative rock, just played with a prog rock equipment. I find the music as well not so much comparable with the newer releases of ANATHEMA (which I like) or RADIOHEAD (which I don't like). If there would be a thing called "Alternative Prog", I think this album could be described like that. Maybe it could be interesting for any alternative or mainstream rock listener as a starting point to come more into prog rock music. I don't know their debut, but reading the reviews it was obviously much better and more in a progrock vein. Prog listeners and fans of the above mentioned Scandinavian bands I'd like to advice to keep hands off this album. Normally I would rate it not more than 1 star, but I give one star extra just for track #3.

Powerfully agressive in the Landberk/Anglagard/Anekdoten mode, these swedish musicians really stretch the envelope , combining the distinctive Scandinavian influences with their own very special take on modern prog. The at times strident and passionate vocals (pained one moment and seductive the next) are a notch above the rest, combined with the devastating bass guitar play, courtesy of Anders Lindgren really steal the show. Solid keyboards constantly flavour the flow with acoustic guitars crearing little islands of musical ponderance before Ola Sivefeldt suddenly unleashes a Frippian tinged lead blast when needed and some crunchy rythm work to boot. On "tell me a Story" and "Come Here" , the lads display a keen sense of drama, igniting the fuse leading to a real gem (a tad more commercial perhaps) , the mesmerizing "reaching for Angels" . This fragile and plaintive lament seduces immediatly, grooved by a dizzying bass rumble, caressed with some delicate piano tinkling and culminating in a chorus to die for! There is a very electro feel as well with gurgling synths and synthetic orchestrations that give this a very contemporary mood. . The next track, "Silence Within" is another monster , alternating soft pastelled arrangements with some judicious use of bombast, in order to stretch the emotional contrasts even further. Replete with hypnotic twists and turns, this fiery blast of melomania sears itself deep into the soul, exciting all the pleasure centers. Then, out of the blue, they have the daring to suggest a quasi-Brazilian bossa nova mode that blossoms into another sublime chorus led by Ola , kicking this tune into very high gear, blazing guitars and massed voices pounding away with no pity and , on a dime, reverting to a little "Rio" trumpet riff , very caribbean jazz, before blowing the roof off in a dizzying climax Whoa! This roller coaster ends on a mellow autumnal note, "Autumn Rain' with storm effects punctuating the melancholic mood, hypnotically serene like a walk in nature. Great record and deserving of unmitigated praise. 4 meatballs

This is a fine prog album, although it is not one to listen to in order to blow the cobwebs away as most of the tracks are meditative in mood, although there are occasional heavier moments. There are many beautiful, melodic sections, especially piano, and the songs tend to be quite sad.

The star track for me is the opener, 'Fields of sorrow' which has a catchy riff, and a breathtaking moment when the heavy-sounding, mellotron-backed chorus suddenly morphs into ethereal piano tinkling.'Come Home' is enhanced by a string quartet and Mattias Jarlhed's clarinet, an unusual instument in prog, but very effective here. 'Reaching for Angels' has a pleasant sunthesiser backdrop to the emotional vocals. The two final tracks, She Will Dance No More' and the gentle, beautiful 'Autumn Rain are given a light jazzy feel by the very effective use of trumpet. The weak point in the album is the longest track 'Tell Me A Story' which is pleasant enough, but does not have enough ideas to justify its length.

All in all, a pleasant hour's listening for those 'in vacant or in pensive mood'.

...just wonder,where they are now...

OK,the second one is not that genius.It has kinda "modern" track ("Reaching for Angels") and two LANBERK-like tracks ("Like a Whisper" and "Autumn Rain").I must admit these ones are probably the weakest songs on the whole album.But the opening "Fields of Sorrow" (as well as the epic "Tell me a Story") shows the band's undying potential to create an interesting New Symphonic Prog.Scandinavia rules!!!Recommended to all GENESIS/CAMEL/LANDBERK/ANEKDOTEN/SINKADUS/KING CRIMSON/ANGLAGARD fans,and especially for those ones who have the first CD of VALINOR'S TREE

VALINOR'S TREE are a Swedish band much in the vein of ANGLAGARD and ANEKDOTEN although less so on this album when compared to their debut.The vocalist is the biggest turn off as he sounds out of tune at times. And considering the music is really good (especially their debut) this becomes a frustrating listen for me. What could have been.

"Fields Of Sorrow" has an excellent intro before it settles when the vocals arrive. It kicks back in and the vocals are brutal here. Contrasts continue. "Like A Whisper" is mellow as reserved vocals and piano join in. It kicks in with power 2 minutes in as contrasts continue. "Tell Me A Story" is my favourite track on here. It's heavy with reserved vocals and piano. Very Swedish. Chunky bass comes in as it gets more intense. Contrasts continue. Great section 5 minutes in. It's powerful but then it calms right down. Piano, bass and guitar are outstanding before 7 minutes.

"Come Home" features picked guitar and vocals. Clarinet joins in. It turns more passionate and I don't like the vocals as usual when he tries to sing harder. "Reaching For Angels" has this beat with vocals and some atmosphere. "Silence Within" opens with bass. It's building. It's built ! Guitar before 2 minutes,vocals a minute later. A calm with piano 6 1/2 minutes in then it kicks back in. "She Will Dance No More" comes from left field as they give us this Jazzy track with sax, bass, drums and piano. The vocals are poor. "Autumn Rain" opens with the sound of children in the background. It's pastoral as sax comes in.

The vocals aren't quite as bad as on the debut but then the music isn't as good either.