THE GATHERING OF THE KRUMS

Whooooa...this wonderfull record...was presented to me by my good friend and prog- mate Leo (thanks mate!!)...an its an absolute GEM!!! Keyboards a plenty and loads of Mellotron. So if youre into guitar solo´s an heroes ditto.. forget about it..this is pure keyboard/Mellotron magic!!! From the intro...to the wonderfull:"The Return".....with the fantastic JohnMcNamara on keys (a plenty)and guest : Bruce Alger on Moog soloing. Tim Kelly doing the vocals sounding sometimes like a young greg Lake. Marc cella doing extremely well on the drums. This is a fabulous prog gem!!! This is without a doubt, the most interesting keyboard loaded prog record in many a time. What am I TALKING ABOUT?This record is from 1998??? How can that be?? How could we ( the prog society) go past this??? 8 tracks...with the 2 last one´s ringing in at 10 min. plus!!! Im lost for words!! All Keyboardfreaks out there.....Get up..get out...GET THIS (if you can)!!!! Its a beautiful day....tra..la..la......

Well, its not a masterpiece, but then again its not a dog. If you like pompous keyboards a la 70's but with up-to-date recording quality and a shameless 'good time' feel, you could do a lot worse. I would probably have said 3 stars, but I'm actually going to say 4 to compensate for the misery who only gave it one!

This is another unknown or at the very least, woefully underrated little ditty that furtively pockmark the prog landscape, an offering from New England that features some innovative textures that belie their New World origins. In fact, there is a heavy English undertow, with massive waves of mellotron as well as assorted other keyboards that flirt with the medieval progster-likes of Gryphon, Gentle Giant and the Morrigan but slashing it with a discernibly original taint. So who are these guys? Two, really. Leader John McNamara handles guitars, bass, mellotron, Moog and Hammond with wizardry and aplomb. Drummer Mark Cella keeps things sharp and percussive. They are aided by a few guests (Tim Kelly on passable vocals, Jim Ames on bass and Bruce Alger on soloing synths and organs). Tracks like the supreme "The Return" really have all the proggy goods, with stellar mood and spectral playing, a true treat that is a definite highpoint of this strange hard to peg disc. "Leaves" is equally bizarre, simple melodies swooned by a harsh guitar and romantic cascades of mellotron to give it even more British feel , sort of like a "heavy" Mike Oldfield in a way. The buccaneering organ swells on "The Party" are captivating, the strained vocals less so but the instrumental expertise is just so high quality. But best is saved for last, as the final two epics really blaze proudly in the night, crackling with broad strokes of superb craftsmanship on the 14 minute + "Fields" , such as the swirling synth web and the hulking mellotron passages and some spirited melodies expelled by both the voice and the synths. The soloing starts heating up seriously, infusing a strong cosmic-jam feel that is most delicious, the axe licks particularly intense. Lots of different mood swings on this menu , including some near-punk ranting, breezy fluff and synthesized bliss. "Depth of Time' is the fantastic closer, probably the most engaging track here, with great pacing and atmospheres. All in all, a valid testament to underproduced works that often have more courage and daring than some of those overpolished antiseptic ones. Veeeeery interesting...Keyboard zealots will have to kneel at this shrine for a sec . 3.5 crummy beers

I found very interesting this only work of the North American band PYE FYTE.. Interesting due to the fact that, same presenting certain similarity with some bands as for instance GENESIS, KERYE ELLEISON, PROCOL HARUM, FOCUS etc... Such influences are well diluted in the arrangements and only in some brief moments you get to notice with some clarity these influences. Another fact that called me plenty the attention was the use of the melotron with main "builder" of the musical harmonies and the use of the hammond as main keyboard for the solos and more the guitar timbre with a preference for the use of analogical effects instead of the digital ones. For this reason my rate i 4 stars!!!

This is one of those hidden gems from the late 1990s. I suppose I could call it "forgotten" but I doubt it was ever very well known in the first place. I would guess that even a lot of hardcore prog fans missed this one at the time and that is quite unfortunate. As for the music, this is a very retro sounding (but definitely not neo) symphonic prog album but I don't think you have to be a symphonic prog freak to enjoy it since there are other things going on here as well.

It all starts with a rather brief vocal piece called "invitation." Next up is "Pitch the Wort" which is an instrumental guitar rocker. After that we get "The Return" which has heavy guitar (but with a very 70s kind of guitar sound and not of the metal variety). This track also has lots of blaring mellotron. The fourth track is "Leaves" and starts out with nothing but keyboards (including a prominent organ). After a brief silence the vocals come in. This is another good track with fine guitar and mellotron again making its way to the foreground at times. Next up is "the party" which again more or less follows the same formula. Track number six is the title track with good multiple backing vocals but it is very brief. "Fields" is next and starts off as all keyboards. This part reminds me a bit of Synergy at times (definitely a good thing). It then delves into more of a traditional kind of song with vocals. Eventually the vocals give way to some very good instrumental interplay. This is probably one of the best parts of the album. The vocals come back after a lengthy instrumental section and then the track finishes off with an instrumental keyboard part again. The last track is "Depth of Time." This track, like most of the others, also has very good keyboards and of course the retro heavy guitar again. This track continues in much the same style as the rest of the album. However, this one also features some very fine synth playing and is a fine way to end the album.

It's too bad they were a one and done kind of band. The drummer, Marc Cella, (who for a while ran the online prog music shop, M&M), sadly passed away in 2010 and so maybe at least partly because of that, the band never really had the chance to get together again. Mark also played drums in the band Eccentric Orbit (their second album was released after he passed away and so only features a few songs with him on it). What we have here though is probably one of my favorites from the 1990s. If you are looking for more albums from that decade to add to your collection, you could do much worse. Maybe more like 3.8 but I will round up to 4 stars.