TMP

TMP aka Toon Martens Project is a progressive rock quintet from Belgium founded by excellent and promising keybordist Toon Martens in late 2000s. So far they release only one album in 2011 self titled. This totaly unkown band took me by surprise, discovered them accidentaly , but in the end what a stunning discoved I made, absolutly this album kick ass big time, I was simply blown away by their performance on this release, the ideas they put together and the overall sound. Influenced by '70 progressive greats (iGenesis, Happy the Man, Gentle Giant) with some jazzy and aswell some neo elements thrown in, this self titled album is worth every second, I can even say with my hand on heart that TMP is the best belgian prog rock band I've ever heared. The musicianship is solid as rock, there are some impressive instrumental sections that for sure will pleases every prog fan with demanding complexity in the music. Every tune is no less then stunning, from the opening Columbus - a nearly 9 min delight, this band definetly needs attention going through 70's Suite a giant tune divided in 5 smaller pieces is another worthy listen to the ending Ginkgo Biloba - TMP means bussines in this field. There are some spectacular keyboard wizardy coming from Martens aswell fantastic melted together with Filip Gijbels guitar. The vocal department is well performed by Guy Guisson, even has some accent I find him very well integrated in the bands sound. Why this band is so unknown in prog circles is beyond me, they are far better then majority of the bands in this field, both in musicinship and in overall ideas. For me almost a masterpiece , highly recommended as the band discribe their music is dedicated to fans of complex and yet accesible progressive rock music. Very strong and fresh band.