HOMESICK

One may say, for obvious reason, here we have a new family band at start, or what? The two Laan brothers Arian and Bart have constituted this outfit not long ago, both are also known for playing in another prog band named Skylake. Easy to state, their prog affinity did not appear out of the nowhere, per accident more or less. This due to some massive influences, certainly coming from their yet also involved father Erik. He's the member of a further Dutch band named Silhouette. And finally, not to forget, the quartet is completed by bass player Mark Op Ten Berg. That means some already experienced prog musicians are teaming up here for a new project, so much the more deriving from different generations. Both aforementioned bands are preferably underway in mellow meadows. The CHAIN REAKTOR songs are highly melodic too, yes, though predominantly implemented with a heavier rock nature.

Are you feeling lonely? The ambivalent context respectively meaning behind the album is dealing with 'feelings triggered by a lack of belonging in the modern world'. And so the band states that the album is '... a journey to find out who we truly want to be in the midst of the treacherous temptations of these lonely cities, where only rats seem to win the race ...' - oops, I do hope they are not pointing to Amsterdam or Rotterdam on this occasion? Seriously though, this is soley one aspect of those manifold contradictions in real life. Songs entitled like Enjoy Your Life equipped with lively happy piano lines are telling the counterpart of the story. Whatever, the band's music turns out to be entirely attractive, that counts in the end. Let's start with The Day That Never Came - eh, this luckily does not apply to the recordings, which resulted in this fantastic album opener. Great! Unexpected percussion intro, impertinent groove, Bart Laan's nice flute contributions, finally his crashing and slicing guitar which serves a slight aggressive timbre further on.

Next then fine polyphonic vocals on Lonely City including Skylake singer Suzan Van Den Engel. Speaking of vocals, I must confess, for some time I had the impression that Erik Laan's mellow singing voice does not really complement with those heavy guitars and rhythm work. Well, takes some time, but it's all good now, simply a specific unique CHAIN REAKTOR trademark, that's it. Excellent powerful performance throughout on The Lying King, nevertheless also showcasing backing mellotron layers and a violin contribution by Sophie Zaaijer. The album title track also comes with different stages, the balladesque intro first, and then transition into a heavier direction again. And so my conclusion is that the band is overly successful here in evoking a balanced mix of charming atmospheric and heavy rocking moments. Now seriously, a sophomore album is a mandatory task, what else?

In some ways it is somewhat surprising that in the 70 years since Alan Freed started broadcasting what he termed "rock 'n' roll" on his radio show that we have not had more children following in their famous parents' footsteps. Sure, it does happen, but not as much as one would expect, and it is even rarer for a parent and children to play in the same group, but that is exactly what we have here. When Erik Laan (keyboards, vocals, Silhouette) contacted me to see if I had heard about his new band, one could sense the pride in which he told me it also included his sons Bart (guitars, flute, vocals, Skylake) and Arjan Laan (drums, percussion, Skylake) with the line-up completed with bassist Mark Op Ten Berg along with a few guests. One of those is singer Suzan Van Den Enge who provides harmony vocals, also from Skylake (whose 2019 debut album I reviewed some time back).

This band happily straddle the heavy prog and neo-prog boundaries, creating music which is immediate and packed full of melodies. One might expect that given Erik has the most experience and is the most well-known musician then he would be taking the primary role, but this is an album of balance, with keyboards and guitar in equal state, each taking the lead and providing support as the need requires, while Mark and Arjan keep it tied down, both venturing into the forefront of the sound when the time is right. Then on top of that we have the vocals, which I find perfectly suited to the music and thoroughly enjoy the harmonies and multi-tracks when the time is right. There are some reviewers who have questioned these, as they may not be quite what some may expect, but I love the slight difference to the sound and within this context it works incredibly well indeed.

It is an album which screams "Class" from the very first time it is played, and it only gets better the more one listens to it. For any proghead who wants their genre to be melodic, modern, with some crunch yet still with plenty of keyboards then this is for you.