FEARS

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This record is a true masterpiece of neo progressive rock! The music is quite comparable to neo progressive bands like Arena, Pendragon, Jadis, IQ and Violet District. The lush, magic & ear candy melodic keyboards will easily make you stargaze. The floating keyboards are quite rich, colorful and atmospheric, however a bit less flamboyant & bombastic than on the Alone album. The VERY melodic electric guitar solos are very good, and it is all the time played in the high notes, a bit like the expressive neo prog bands use to play in their songs, such like Jadis, IQ and Violet District. When the electric guitar is rhythmic, it is not distorted too much, so that it just brings a slightly bold & pleasant rhythmic contribution. There are also many discrete distortion- free electric guitar notes a la Jadis, Pendragon & Marillion, which is a VERY strong point of the album, even more omnipresent than on the Alone album. The male lead singer has a very insistent, emotional and highly pitched voice, with a strong foreign accent. The bass and the drums do a very good job. If we compare this record with their following Alone album, Clepsydra are more sophisticated and progressive here, and they still have their very pleasant emotional approach. ALL the tracks are at least excellent. Again, Clepsydra here should seduce women with their simple, catchy, accessible and emotional approach.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

3.5 stars.Some say that cheese and chocolate are the best things that Switzerland has given us, but after listening to this record CLEPSYDRA comes close. There are some amazing moments on this record ,like in the song "The Missing Spark" the melody is absolutely wonderful,it sounds so good.This is a beautiful song with soaring guitar and some great piano melodies.The vocalist does have an accent but it doesn't get in the way.His vocals are often emotional and passionate."Into My Carton" is uplifting at times,with synths leading the way."Daisies in the Sunshine" is a great title for this instrumental that is dominated by the acoustic guitar."The Cloister" has a variety of moods and tempo shifts,from slow and atmospheric to heavy riffs and percussion."The Nineteenth Hole" has more guitar and keys and closes out with a sax solo."Fear" is the longest and final song on the record.It opens with a great guitar solo,and we get more of that later in the song.There isn't quite enough on this record to call it essential but i highly recommend it, especially to MARILLION fans and fans of prog in general.

I have all the albums by Clepsydra and I'm a huge fan. This is neoprog at it's best. I like their conceptalbums best (More Grains of sand and Alone) but this one is very good too. Only problem I have with it is that there are several songs of lower quality, not very impressive I mean, on this album. To put it simple: the shorter songs are the lesser and the longer songs are the better. This is in fact coincidence but not entirely to be honest because I tend to like the longer songs on any album. On the other hand: they usually prove to be the better songs because more time and energy are put in the longer compositions is my believe.

In this case it is very obvious: Soaked, The nineteenth Hole, Fear and especially The Missing Spark are songs of the highest quality ! It's about the best you can find in neoprog. The Cloister is also good but the other songs I usually skip when I play the album.

This is also an important difference with the two conceptalbums by Clepsydra: they are great as a whole and this is why I can't give this the 5 stars, but it's almost 4.5, so 4.

Few bands combine the anthemic spirit of arena rock with the complexities and subtleties of progressive rock as well as Clepsydra. If this be neo, then I am a convert, yet I find much neo prog is listless and lacking melodic innovativeness. Now, while Clepsydra cannot be considered the most unique of bands, they know whereof they write, sing, play, and arrange, and are sublime tunesmiths, so are among my favourite proponents of the genre. "Fears" opts for longer tracks than the other Clepsydra albums, without using the suite approach, and sometimes they meander a bit as a result, but when they work, which is often, it really clicks.

Ushered in by chanting monks and a steady rain, "Soaked" provides a dignified, fitting start, encapsulating Clepsydra's chief qualities - in order, strong melodies, soaring lead guitars, and the slightly fragile endearing voice of Aluisio Maggini. Even when the guitars get a bit heavy on this disk, Maggini remains the consummate sensitive new age guy, yet with masculine vigour. "The Missing Spark" is less interesting to begin with but picks up after about 3 and a half minutes and features a spine tingling melody played on synth, a diversion for Clepsydra, where keyboards tend to play a more atmospheric role. "The Age of Glass" again shows Clepsydra experimentaing with neo classical motifs and some harpsichord style motifs although Marco Cerulli does serve up some tasty lead to provide continuity. "Daisies in the Sunshine" is short piece consisting almost entirely of acoustic guitar.

"The Cloister" is an instantly likeable song that sounds almost like a 70s ballad from Styx, featuring a brilliantly uplifting chorus and yet another colourful synthesizer solo. That is when Clepsydra chooses to diverge from any constricting formula, presenting a gorgeous vocal section floating above cosmic keys, building up to a repeat of the synth solo and closing lead guitar histrionics. This is possibly the high point of the whole album, and simply scintillates, even if the song eventually closes in a somewhat cacaphonous manner. "The Nineteenth Hole" is probably the weakest entry among the "epics", with pleasant parts but generally unconvincing as a cohesive work. The title track effectively erases any previous disappointment and brings a fitting end to a great effort.

Have no fears of acquiring this Clepsydra album if you are a fan of melodic rock of any type.

If ever you like the neo prog genre with a serious symphonic touch, you should appreciate this third album from this Swiss band.

"Clepsydra" delivers an inspired album with several true symphonic gems. Several long songs are so pleasant and catchy. The first two of the album will particularly draw your attention. Fully "Pendragon" oriented, these pleasant melodies featured in both "Soaked" as well as in "The Missing Spark" do count as my fave from the band so far.

They really turn me on even if complexity is not the watchword here. Beautiful vocal melodies combined with emotional guitar. I happen to like these while, like here, some good inspiration prevents them to be too childish and mellowish.

The whole album is a fine travel into some sort of a melodic world and the only negative point is that several songs are based on a simple structure ("The Age of Glass"). This is even more noticeable during a short track like "Fearless" while the acoustic is gently breaking this mood.

"The cloister" differs in texture. It is fully melancholic, ambient (there is even a spacey middle part which is so profound). Synth work is very much "Marillion" oriented and fans of sublime guitar solo are well being taken care of (thanks Marco).

Still, "Clepsydra" is more convincing in their longer compositions. Aluisio Maggini sounds almost theatrical during "The Nineteenth Hole" and the guitar work is so.extraordinary again as in most of their songs. It is really a pleasure to get on board here. And if the nineteenth hole is the Nirvana, I fully get my clubs and start at hole number one to start my spiritual elevation.

To prove me wrong, I have to admit that the very soft "Sweet Smelling Wood" is a jewel of a melody; the highlight being the vocals performance which is rather impressive. It brilliantly leads to the closing and longest song of this album. Another fearless experience which plunges deeply into the early "Genesis" sounds during the instrumental break

If attractive music, pleasant vocals and incredible electric guitar moments are a combination you are looking for, you might step by "Fear". My favourite "Clepsydra" album so far. Four stars.

Probably Clepsydra´s most ambitious and varied work to date. Very nice neo prog rock with strong symphonic overtones. There are the obvious Fish-era Marillion and Pendragon influences, but they have a sound of their own. As usual the guitar lines are wonderfully emotional and very melodic: they really found a worthy substitute to the original axe player Lele Hioffman in the form of Marco Cerulli (who also plays sax on one track!). Philip Hubert keyboards work is more proeminent here and his interplay with Cerulli is one of the highlights of Fears. But if the band has a true voice is that of the charismatic vocalist Aluisio Maggini, who has a very unique voice and a dramatic delivery. He really makes all the difference.

While Fears is quite varied, I always find it hard to point the better tracks, for this CD, like anything Clepsydra has released, is to be heard as a whole. I never skip one track when I hear their albums and this is not an exception. It is no coincidence they have such good name in the prog circle, since the band never released one bad or even mediocre record: they are all very well done. Production here is better than the earlier effords which is quite good for their sophisticated, elegant sound.

Although I still think that Alone is Clepsydra´s best, this one is not far behind. And my rating cannot be any less than four stars, for it is an excellent addition to any prog music collection.