DEADWOOD FOREST

The revival of Progressive Rock in the 90's gave birth to many fantastic bands along with some less-known ones and Austin-based US act Deadwood Forest can certainly be listed in the second category.Found sometime in the 90's the band featured Ryan Guidry on vocals/guitar/glockenspiel/stylophone, Andy McWilliams on drums, Kurt Coburn on bass) and Mitch Mignano keyboards.They self-recorded their self-titled debut in 1997 at Lee College in Baytown and released privately the same year.

While the overall atmosphere has a strong American flavor, mainly due to the vocals and some country-inspired acoustic material, Deadwood Forest had some interesting ideas strongly influenced by the likes of YES, GENESIS, BRACLAY JAMES HARVEST and KANSAS, eventually coming up often with a typical US prog sound along the lines of DISCIPLINE, SPOCK'S BEARD, EPISODE or FARPOINT.The album contains fifteen tracks somewhere between modern rock aesthetics and vintage-inspired Classic Prog, where the crunchy guitars and acoustic passages of Guidry meets the heavy Mellotron and Hammong organs of Mitch Mignano.The result is some mid-length compositions with interesting arrangements, where modern meets old, complexity meets atmosphere and heaviness meets softness.Especially the Mellotron parts of Mignano are absolutely magnificent, often supported by the CHRIS SQUIRE-like bass playing of Coburn and the fine alternation between acoustic and electric leads of Guidry.The album is highlighted by the closing 15-min. epic song ''Vital commentary'', which has a strong SPOCK'S BEARD influence, featuring nice changes between dramatic and relaxing performances, interesting solos, massive Mellotron and organ waves and expressive vocals.

Good but not very easy to find stuff along the lines of SPOCK'S BEARD with both analong and modern equipment used and interesting material contained if you love Classic Prog.Search around the best internet prog music stores, as the album is warmly recommended.