MYRIAD

"Outside Smile" is another good song, a bit longer and based on minor chords. I hear some psychedelia mixed with sounds typical of neo-prog. The gutar, in particular, could appear in the early Marillion or Fish releases. The second part of the track, with the drums appearing for the first time in the album has a sort of Mostly Autumn flavor but with a guitar less invasive than Bryan Josh's.

"Picnic In The Park At Summer Solstice" is the longest title for the shortest track. Nice acoustic guitar short piece.

A piano synth intro opens "Cold Under This Sky". More bluesy, it's catchy and the clean voice of Matt Heindorff is perfect for this song. There's also space for a bit of distortion on the electric guitar to turn it into a heavy prog song. Interesting the tempo slowing down for few seconds here and there.

Stormy winds open "North Sea Road". Chimes, bells then finger picking guitar. The melody is catchy, the voice is clean and the chord progression is very good even if the first major chord is kept for quit long. The late 60s mood is present also here. Lovely.

"Destiny's Midst" starts with a bit of recorded chaos and I'm not ashamed of calling it psychedelic rock. Only 2 minutes and half, unfortunately.

The closer is also the longest track, scoring over 8 minutes. More on the rock side, with guitar riffs and distorted electric guitar supporting them, but there are pauses, rhythmless moments made of keys and vocals, plus chaotic concrete sections.

In brief, a lovely album that I personally enjoy a lot, able to put me in a particular state of mind. I hope it works the same for you guys.

The album follows the Space Rock vein, based on the use of floating synthesizers, atmospheric guitars and hypnotic singing lines, creating a spacey and sometimes somber mood, no matter the track is long or short.There is some sporadic use of piano and organ here and there and the musicianship is quite laid-back, almost based on chill-out tunes.Heindorff often uses also some sound effects in order to come up with even more atmospheric soundscapes.The lack of some energy, the similarity between all cuts along with the very short length of the album (just over 30 minutes) are the biggest problems of ''Sea of the Sinking Sun''.I could name also the absence of some haunting melodies as well, but this part is overcome through the carefully structured pieces, which are not spectacular by any means, but overall complete a decent listening.

This is not a bad album.The music is above average, the vocals are also nice, but it misses some nerve and twists to be fully recommended.Nevertheless this could be a decent listening for fans of the style...2.5 stars.

Beginning with Rush-like atmospheric chunky bass and drums, it has a dreamy and plodding sound filled with mystery and drama. Evocative melodic electric guitar runs and thick synths not unlike the lost-in-space 80's Eloy albums `Planets' and `Time To Turn' give the track an other-wordly and floating quality. Love the percussion-led middle section, before a knockout soaring electric solo from talented Matthew Heindorff that has become the Myriad trademark. It's one of his best, most melodic and grand solos yet, very uplifting. The heavy drum sound from Steve Clark has a lot of booming echo that highlights the deep-space sound, and it's perfect for some `air drumming'!

Hopefully a sign of even better things to come, this is the sound of a band still moving forward, progressing, pushing themselves and their listeners. I think a good combination of their traditional acoustic elements and the spacey elements of this piece will be a real winner!

More new material can't come soon enough from this talented Australian progressive project.

`Gone' begins the album with the strong and dreamy acoustic guitar playing and plaintive vocals from Myriad main-man Matthew Heindorff that are the band's trademark, backed with uplifting and drifting keyboards. His lyrics always have a very personal and reflective tone, and you'll likely find much to relate to in his words throughout the album.

`Outside Smile' is a little bit darker, with a contemplative vocal and matching lyric backed with thick ghostly synths. Some nice clean electric guitar in the stirring ambient middle section before the track shoots straight for the sky with a spiraling electric guitar solo that is easily the equal of Steven Wilson and Nick Barrett of Pendragon. Terrific commanding drum work from Justin Roebig gives the track a great sense of epic drama. The album highlight!

`Picnic...' is a brief acoustic interlude with an evocative melody! Far too short, but beautiful nonetheless.

Lovely piano and pounding drums kick off `Cold Under This Sky', a classy mid-tempo piece with more pensive lyrics and a warm sighing vocal. We get a a bit of electric grunt in the second half, and there's terrific chunky and fluid bass playing from Matt throughout the whole track. Love the way the music slows up and speeds down, back and forth, right near the end.

`North Sea Road' is a sweet and upbeat boppy track with playful Syd Barret-esque vocal lines and foot tapping clean electric guitar melodies! Matt's voice is very charming and likeable on this one, and there's a lovely dancing guitar solo with shimmering synths backing it up. A terrific joyful little diversion!

`Destiny's Midst' is the heaviest piece on the album, with hard drums and dirty electric guitar riffs. It probably gives the album a bit of an adrenaline kick after the lighter previous track, and the whole second half is filled with a groovy wailing guitar solo.

`Almost A Joker' is the most ambitious piece on the album, comprised of a number of different ideas joined together. The track is based around stomping drums and riff-heavy chugging, before dissolving into an experimental ocean of ambient swimming electronic effects along the lines of Tangerine Dream and early Pink Floyd. Other-wordly treated ruminative vocals call from the distance, and maddening looped drums drive the listener to madness. Then a killer electric guitar solo tears through the nightmare and lifts the listener away. This track most of all shows the true potential this band had, and only hinted at directions the band would eventually head in.

With their next few releases, Myriad would add a sophisticated blend of acoustic and heaviness with `Floating On Ascending Plains', then aimed for the stars with the spacey and electronic `Reminded' (as well as their upcoming `Quietude'). But check out the band's unassuming and melodic debut album for a wonderful little progressive gem.

`Floating On Ascending Plains' is a natural step onwards from Myriad's previous release `Sea of The Sinking Sun'. Everything on this album sounds much more developed and truly progressed forwards from the first EP. Much of the playing is more technical, Matthew Heindorff's lyrics are more abstract and complex (reminds me in places of Jon Anderson at his new age finest!). The production has a much richer and fuller sound, but it never sounds cluttered or over-busy. There's still a very strong emphasis on acoustic guitar, which was one of the things I always loved about the first EP.

I was a little shocked at first by the heavier sound on the two part track `Visions Of Sinai'! The harder sections sound more like Rush, especially with the bass and drums combo, or even maybe 80's Eloy, with hard rock riffs and spacey keyboards. It features wonderful melodic electric guitar solos, with the bass grumbling away in the background, in addition to killer keyboard solo runs! The second half features a very David Gilmour/Pink Floyd inspired soaring guitar solo, as well as a relentless neo-prog sounding keyboard solo! Epic track, with so many interesting ideas. I do wonder why it was decided to split this track in two, as opposed to keeping it the one single big prog epic, though?

`Flood Of Understanding' is a nice collection of atmospheric pieces, alternating between electronic ambient textures and warm reflective acoustic passages. The second section is a drifting icey soundscape worthy of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze or Adeldert Von Deyen. I would love to see the band really implement this direction on future releases. It's followed by a more somber piece similar to final section of Floyd's `Saucerful Of Secrets' with the mournful organs, or even something off the `Staircase Infinities' album by Porcupine Tree. The mood is brought back up again with a nice reprise of the opening acoustic section to wrap up the track, with additional keyboards to back it up. This is my favorite track of the album, and I would gladly listen to the band release an entire album in this style. It really takes you on a reflective and spiritual journey.

I assume the shorter final track `Forever Fading Days' was perhaps from the first album recordings. The production and style of the track makes me think it might have been recorded at the same time or was an outtake from `Sea Of The Sinking Sun'? Nice track to finish the album on.

Matthew Heindorff is an extremely talented musician. Not only is his guitar playing exemplary throughout the album, be it on the many expressive acoustic tracks or the grand, epic electric solos, but his bass playing is extremely impressive as well. Its always mixed very upfront and prominent, the way it should always be in progressive rock bands! Very tasteful and varied in his use of keyboard sounds as well. He is also a very competent vocalist with a warm and genuine voice. Darren Finch on drums/percussion also makes an impression, showing a lot of variety and technical ability.

With so many of our prog acts more closely aligned to metal, it's very satisfying to hear an Australian prog band play classic, epic and grand symphonic rock, that takes elements from the legends of the 70's and adds a thoroughly original and modern spin on it. Myriad's music gets a total recommendation from me, well worth looking into, and I look forward to more from them in the future.

An easy four stars!

Myriad has been compared with Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson. Which is a good comparison. I would also compare the music on this album with the US west coast scene which gave us the likes of Jefferson Airplane. Not to mention the likes of Beach Boys. There is some definate surfing USA and beach life feelings over this album. That and some space rock like yearning for something else too. The music is light and flowery prog with good light vocals, vintage guitars and keyboards + the usual bass and drums. The quality is good throughout. It lacks a couple of killer tunes though. But the music is both clever and intelligently made throughout. This is most definate worthy downloads or even good physical purchases. Fans of Porcupine Tree should most definate check out this album.

3 stars

"Stepping Stones To Monastic Overview" opens with sparse sounds that echo and pulse. "Visions Of Sinai (First Canto)" opens with spacey winds then it kicks in abruptly and heavily. Love the chunky bass here. It settles back 1 1/2 minutes in with synths, bass and drums standing out.Vocals 2 minutes in. What a great sounding tune. It kicks back in briefly before 6 1/2 minutes then a spacey calm takes over to end it. "Flood Of Understanding" opens with strummed guitar and another guitar playing over top. It all stops 3 1/2 minutes in as a spacey atmosphere rolls in. Strummed guitar after 6 minutes then the organ joins in.The guitar stops as it turns spacey again then it kicks in before 10 1/2 minutes to end it.

"Visions Of Sinai (Second, Third and Fourth Cantos)" builds and we get some huge bass as the guitar starts to solo around 2 minutes. Amazing ! It kicks in with vocals at 3 minutes. It turns spacey before 6 1/2 minutes but the drums still pound away.The drums stop a minute later and we get some relaxed guitar melodies as reserved vocals join in.The vocals stop 9 minutes in as drums, deep bass and guitar take over. Incredible sound. "Forever Fading Days" features laid back guitar and vocals. We get some keys late that really remind me of BAUER. It's spacey to end it.

I'm such a fan of this band and their style. I still like the debut better but both are "must haves" in my opinion.

"Gone" opens with some beautiful acoustic guitar and Steven Wilson-like vocals. The synths are a nice touch as well. "Outside Smile" features an atmospheric soundscape that is dark at times. Some good synth work follows and later in the song we get a great guitar solo with the drums pounding away. Nice. "Picnic In The Park At Solstice" is an instrumental that is less than a minute long with a nice acoustic guitar melody. "Cold Under This Sky" opens with keys,as heavy drums and vocals follow. Some riffs 3 minutes in as the sound gets heavier.

This song blends into "North Sea Road' one of my favourite tracks on the record. It opens with the wind blowing and something jangling in that wind, guitar comes in after a minute.The lyrics are sung rather quickly. "Destiny's Midst" is another good one ! Opening with the sound of a radio playing that gets louder and more audible as it becomes this song. There is a nice scorching guitar solo with crisp drums. Well done. The final song is "Almost A Joker", it has a nice contrast between the heavy drums and the vocals. I like the spacey, dreamy synths and vocals here.There are some beautiful guitar melodies 7 minutes in.

This album and band are well worth checking out. I was fortunate enough to get a copy of this from Greg Walker.

The band is really the genius of Matthew Heindorff (guitars, bass, vocals, synths and organ) and Darren Finch (drums, cymbals, djembe and congas). Mood swings are just the order of the day on this album and songs move from very serene to heavy guitar-laden breakouts. Lovers of PORCUPINE TREE will without a doubt love this little album. Symphonic and Majestic yet impulsive and dark. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!