BREAKING THE SILENCE

The title of this new album matches perfectly with the fact that it's more than 15 years ago that USA progrock formation Holding Pattern made an album (in 1991), it was entitled Majestic and released as a CD on LP size, wonderful but quite expensive to order from Holland! So now we can enjoy this 'Holding Pattern reunion album' as the band stated on their wonderful website (with lots of MP3 files, very welcoming). The cover art is by Paul Whitehead who became known as the artist who made the covers of early Genesis albums Nursey Cryme and Foxtrot and recently he has designed for Italian progrock bands like Le Orme. The current line-up features most of the original members and drummer Robert Hutchinson plays on the live bonustrack (Japan, 2005) Honor Before Glory.

In general the songs on this new album sound fluent with a very dynamic rhythm-section and strong interplay between guitar and keyboards. The focus is on prime mover and musical brainchild Tony Spada his guitarwork, from howling to propulsive riffs and lots of fiery guitar solos, loaded with biting and blistering runs like in the title track (also featuring a sparkling synthesizer solo with lush Mellotron), Fishbulb (wonderful bombastic final part), Once As One (Seventies Camel atmosphere with mellow organ), Out The Other (exciting climate) and Blaster (catchy rhythm and great interplay). A very good composition is the long and alternating Back To The Tunnels delivering a beautiful part with twanging acoustic guitar and piano and a flashy synthesizer solo, accompanied by propulsvie guitar riffs and powerful drums. But my highlight is the final song Honor Before Glory (live Tokyo 2005): a dreamy first part with Mellotron and sensitive electric guitar play (with hints from Andy Latimer), then a comepelling atmosphere with a great build-up guitar solo with many howling runs, goose bumps!

To me this sounds as a very good reunion CD, I am sure it will please many progheads who like more dynamic and bombastic progrock with lots of strong guitarwork. My rating: 3,5 stars.

The instrumental ensemble Holding Pattern breaks the silence after a hiatus that has lasted too long. Not that Tony Spada and his old friends had been out of the business, but Holding Pattern seemed simple doomed into the obscurity of the least famous progressive names. Now, this USA band has returned with a vengeance, using its habitual influences (Camel, Hackett-era Genesis, Happy the Man, Dixie Dregs sans the country factor) albeit with an enhanced energy that allows the band to resuscitate its vitality and freshness. 'Flying Colors' kicks off the album in a most appealing note, displaying enough stamina to provide a special life to the melodic motifs. The title track's next, being more evocative and a bit less sumptuous than the opener, still being genuinely energetic. Special mentions go to the electrifying synth solo that emerges at minute 3 and the fluid contrasts between softer and stronger passages. 'Fishbulb' sounds like a lost HTM piece performed by Colosseum II - it includes a funny quote from the popular "The Simpsons" theme. Also worth mentioning are those Emersonian keyboard atmospheres that Tennenbaum provides to the interlude's closure: he really is the perfect counterpart/complement for the ever-featured Spada's guitar playing. 'Once as One' brings more of Holding Pattern's evocative facet, even showing a beeper melancholic vibe than on track 2. After this track's fade-out ends, no follow-up feels more convenient than the shred-driven starting section of 'Out the Other', one of the most modernistic traces in the album, quite close to a CAB-meets-Satriani - it's very likely that the listener may suspect that some naughty elf has taken out the HP CD and put LTE instead. The catchy dynamics we find in this track serves to instill some fresh air into the overall stylishly progressive mood of the album (well, what else can one expect from a good prog album anyway...?). 'Back to the Tunnels' retakes the Tunnel theme from previous releases ('Tunnels' and 'Out of the Tunnels' were included in their namesake EP and their "Majestic" LP). The visceral, incendiary mood of the track summons the varied influences of Dixie Dregs, Colosseum II and King Crimson to the fold in a fog of controlled tension - no way that the person enjoying this album doesn't find this track as one of its highlights. After this magnificent display, 'Blaster' brings back some of the frontal fire of 'Out the Other'. Quite different is 'Like Waves', the most ethereal number in the album, based on the dialogues between guitar and piano: a few seconds before arriving to the fifth minute the interplaying absorbs a weird set of chord progressions, in this way adorning the overall dreamy ambience. The closer 'Honor Before Glory' is an old track recaptured to remind us how well Spada can mix "Spectral Mornings"-era Hackett with 80s-Holdsworth: the keyboard layers seem to wrap the atmosphere. All in all, "Breaking the Silence" is pure symphonic prog delight, particularly for those who love their symphonic powerful and robust. There are also enough jazz-oriented hints as to please the regular fans of contemporary modern jazz-prog or old fashioned jazz-rock. Anyway, this Holding Pattern we hear on "Breaking the Silence" shines like a Phoenix bird out of eternal progressive flames.