THE FOUNDATION

Apparently, keyboard player Ron Lammers started The Foundation as a trio back in the Nineties but nothing came of it and it is only in recent years that he decided to revisit the idea, bringing in some very well-known Dutch musicians to assist. The core of the band are Mark Smit (vocals, Knight Area), Rinie Huigen (guitars, Cliffhanger, King Eider, Novox, Knight Area), Jens van der Valk (electric guitar, Autumn, Cantara, Enraged), Gijs Koopman (bass, Taurus pedals, keyboards, Cliffhanger, Novox, Sylvium, Odyssice, Knight Area) and Jan Grijpstra (drums, Autumn). Additional players also include keyboard player Jan Munnik (Autumn) and guitarist Aad Bannink (Sentinel) plus flautist Judith van der Valk and violinist Sjoerd Bearda. Not only are they all seasoned musicians but they are also used to playing together in other outfits, and that experience shows through in this album which does not appear as if it is a fragmented project but instead is a band who have been working together for some time.

The album is a simple concept in that it is a chronological representation of human life which commences nicely and gently with some keyboards and then develops into something more complex and raw. It is very easy in life to wear a mask, and sometimes this can mean hiding your true being not only from others but to yourself as well, and it is only by removing the mask and fully understanding ourselves that we can begin to live our lives to their truest potential. Although there are symphonic influences here and there, with Camel coming to the fore in "Birth", we soon move into polished neo prog which brings together Dutch and American influences. Smit is a fine singer, but attention is drawn mostly to the songs and arrangements, as the use of multiple guitars has assisted in creating something which is complex and incredibly layered with complicated threads being drawn, with the keyboards providing the platform for them all to be brought together in a rich tapestry.

The more the album is played the more the listener gets out of it, and with the title cut more than twelve minutes in length we have music which has room to develop and breathe. Interestingly this is not an over-long album at just under 50 minutes, and to my mind is all the better for that. This is direct with no tasteless and meaningless meanderings and we can only hope this is the beginning of a proper band as opposed to a project as I look forward to the next album with interest.

Can we say or at least write that the time for revenge has come for those banished from KNIGHT AREA? Without knowing all the ins and outs, this promising first album from THE FOUNDATION seems to be the ideal crucible to discover or rediscover the singer Mark SMIT and his long-time sidekick the bassist and keyboardist Gijs KOOPMAN.

"Mask" is a concept album based on an autobiographical story, a chronological representation of life that begins when we are born (The names of the titles are indicative of "Before the Dawn" to "Future"). As Ron LAMMERS explains, we We are born to love and we learn to hate......The mask is above all that of Love.

Without being wildly original, we are in the presence of an excellent work of symphonic neo-progressive as was the first KNIGHT AREA (we'll come back to it!) in its time, from the already distant year 2004. It goes without saying that the smooth vocal range (silky would be more appropriate) of Mark SMIT has a lot to do with the full success of this record. As it is a concept album, we are not going to separate one title or the other, you take all or you take nothing.......

What have I learned from several careful listenings of this opus? The orchestral opening of "Before the Dawn" coupled with the lyrical phrasing of Jens VAN DER VALK's six-string for seven instrumental minutes that we do not see pass in the sequence with "Birth" where it is Rinie HUIGEN (CLIFFHANGER) which takes over with a more incisive, more biting guitar. "Climbing Mountains" a little repetitive in an AOR register turns out to be a tone below, nevertheless airy by the flute of Judith VAN DER VALK and the violin of Sjoerd BEARDA.The nervous and swirling keyboard layers of Ron LAMMERS and the rhythmic pair Gijs KOOPMAN/Jan GRIJPSTRA transport us far into a maelstrom of very organic entanglements for "Blind to Reality" and especially "Despair".

The eponymous piece "Mask" arrives and its twelve magnificent minutes, the symphonic progressive at its peak, nothing more, a heady main melody, punctuated by the velvet voice of Mark SMIT, "masterpiece" you said "chef work"? The violin that runs through "Reneawal" saves it from all comers and "Unconditional" is very easy to listen to, very radio-friendly, a piece composed by Ron LAMMERS for his wife Betty......The final piece "Future " takes us back several floors with heady and enterprising keyboards (Gijs KOOPMAN on the Taurus pedal) and where vocalist Mark SMIT once again takes the spotlight, the second essential track of the work.

A very nice surprise that this foundation straddles between the first and second half of 2023, looking forward to a sequel......as brilliant.

The Foundation is the project of Ron Lammers who began to write some prog rock music in the late 90's but the project was put on hold until 2020 when he bought a proper keyboard. "Mask" is a concept album based on an autobiographical story. It's a chronological representation of human life. It starts innocently when we are born.

The music is heavily influenced by Neo-Prog bands and also some bands of the 70's like Pink Floyd on the opener "Before the Dawn". "Birth" has a Camel influence on the guitar work. "Climbing Mountains" shows some nice vocal harmonies. The production is crystal clear with each instrument nicely mixed including flute and some nice bass lines from Gijs Koopman of the band Cliffhanger. I guess he is still using the same bass and the Taurus pedal to sustain the tone. The music is melodic symphonic prog with plenty of instrumental sections. You can hear many influences from the Neo-Prog bands; Kaos Moon, Pallas for example. It's rarely on the heavy side except in some passages in the song "Blind to Reality" and in the first part of the song "Despair" with a metal style. The keys have their moments, especially in the title track and the last track "Future". We can hear in the quality and the excellent production of this album that it can only come from someone with experience in the record business. Recommended!

Review from my progVisions project:

Dear progVisions readers, first a preliminary note. If you have been following progVisions' Facebook posts, you will know that yours truly, as graphic designer, videographer and web developer, has been involved in this fine Dutch Progressive Rock project. So I leave the judgement on these matters to the other reviewers.

"Mask" is the debut album by The Foundation, a new Dutch Prog project led by Ron Lammers. "Mask" is a concept album based on an autobiographical story. It's a chronological representation of human life. The Foundation is founded by Ron Lammers. In the late 90's he started with Sietse Dijkstra and Marcel Kerkdijk to compose and record some prog songs. Unfortunately due personal circumstances they had to split up. In the meantime Ron Lammers started Xymphonia Records and released albums from the Dutch bands Plackband and Timelock. In 2020 Ron bought a proper keyboard and he composed the concept album "Mask".

We are born to love. We learn to hate. It's up to us what we reach for !

""Mask" is a concept album based on an autobiographical story. It's a chronological representation of human life. It starts innocently when we are born. We are expected by the outside world but also by our parents to prove ourselves and to strive more and more for a better position in society. Either financially or in terms of prestige. As a result, we are blinded by reality and lose sight of what really matters in life. This can even lead to despair. Take off your mask and choose for love. This can lead to a conversion to faith. Therefore you are filled with love and positivity. Take your responsibility and manage your mistakes and look positively to the future". Concept by Ron Lammers

Music by: Ron Lammers ( 1-9 ) Gijs Koopman ( 9 ) Jan Munnik ( 4,7,8 ) Marcel Kerkdijk ( 6 )

Lyrics by: Mark Smit ( 3,4,7,8,9 ) Ron Lammers ( 6 )

Mark Smit - Vocals; Rinie Huigen - Electric & Acoustic guitars; Jens van der Valk - Guitars & EBow; Aad Bannink - Solo guitar (8); Gijs Koopman - Bass, Taurus Pedals, Keyboards (9); Sjoerd Bearda - Violin; Judith van der Valk - Flute; Jan Grijpstra - Drums; Jan Munnik - Keyboards; Ron Lammers - Keyboards

The album opens with "Before The Dawn" (4:30) that has an atmospheric opening with nice full keyboard strings and Mellotron flutes. The broad keyboard layers of Ron Lammers are later accompanied by fat Moog Taurus bass pedals, played by meastro Gijs Koopman, and the fine Electric guitar parts of Jens van der Valk. This strong opening of the album flows seamlessly into the track "Birth" (3:13) which is already announced with a sound sample of a laughing baby. The atmospheric keyboard opening with the bass pedals and melodic guitar parts reminds me slightly of the music of German band Eloy. Then we get sucked in with the beautiful melodies, which can be found throughout this album. Besides the keyboard parts, Rinie Huigen's melodic guitar work is worth mentioning. Jan Grijpstra's drums are tight and refreshing but serve the music. This actually applies to the entire album.

The first part of the following triptych is titled "Climbing Mountains" (5:00). This uptempo song pops right in. This is also the first song to contain lyrics. And I am delighted that, in my opinion, the best Prog singer in the Netherlands has joined this fine project. Of course, I am talking about Mark Smit. Where bassist Gijs Koopman was united with his buddy Rinie Huigen from the Dutch band Cliffhanger, Mark Smit is reunited on this album with his companions Gijs Koopman and Rinie Huigen from his Knight Area period. These outstanding musicians really inspired each other. "Climbing mountains" develops as a beautiful song with fantastic vocals with lovely and catchy choruses. In the song, you can also hear the beautiful contributions of Judith van de Valk on flute and Sjoerd Bearda on violin.

In the slow vocal opening of the next song "Blind To Reality" (4:51), Mark Smit's voice comes into its own even better. Lovely to be able to understand a singer word for word. And from experience, I know that Mark Smit can also do this in a live setting. But soon the music becomes more hectic. You can hear two guitarists on this song Jens van der Valk and Rinie Huigen. At first, they have their own spots to shine, but at the end, they come together and then the music gets really interesting, a real guitar duel unfolds between the two styles. Very nicely done, a lovely song.

In the instrumental "Despair"(3:38), the guitar style of Jens van der Valk, who of course we know from his band Autumn, is really on point. The music is often uncomfortable and it chafes a bit. At the end, both guitarists are completely let loose and we go to a climax musically. You can clearly hear here that Ron Lammers gave the musicians a mission on the one hand but on the other also gave them the freedom to bring their own input to the music. It's a fierce song that might not be appreciated by everyone. But given the storyline of the concept, this song had to be there and it's in the right place.

Then it's time for the album's magnus opus, the title track "Mask" (12:13). For me, this track of epic proportions is the absolute highlight of this fine album. A little memory comes up now, a few years ago Ron showed me an old demo of this track. Surprised that Ron had composed music at all and hearing the potential what was in that old first demo back then, I said, you should actually do something with that. And he certainly did the latter, and since he asked me to take care of the artwork, I was in the privileged position of closely following the process from demos to the final product. "Mask" opens with beautiful keyboard melodies backed by deep Taurus bass pedal sounds. And when Rinie Huigen joins in with his melodic guitar playing, the song develops as a beautiful symphonic rock song. With Gijs Koopman on bass and Jan Grijpstra, The Foundation has a delightful rhythm section. Vocalist Mark Smit takes this song to an even higher level with his beautifully sung vocals. In between those beautiful vocal sections, you hear delicious synth and guitar solos. The melodies in this track are very strong. Rinie Huigen convinces with his melodic guitar playing. And Ron Lammers and Jan Munnik treats us with lovely melodic keyboard playing. Also want to give Mark Smit a compliment. On most vocal tracks, he has been given the freedom to give his own input. He did that so well and passionately that he was given full credit for these lyrics, but on the title track, the lyrics are Ron Lammers' own and Mark has made them his own and sings them beautifully and with full commitment. The end of the song is also very nice with a nice contribution from Sjoerd Bearda on violin. "Look into your heart". Only for this song you have to buy this album

The next song is called "Renewal" (4:33) and opens with a slow and delicate piano melody, backed by violin in the background. But soon the song develops as an uptempo song with a positive vibe. Besides beautiful guitar and synth solos, you can also enjoy Judith van der Valk's beautiful flute playing here.

"Unconditional (for Betty)" (4:02) is a special song in every way. First, the song was written especially for Betty, Ron's wife. It is the first song that has been finished and mixed. It is also the song for which Ron commissioned me to make a lyric video. All this to be able to offer this first mixed song together with the lyric video to his wife Betty. He finally told her what he had been doing in his music room for the past year. It turned out to be a beautiful song. A song with single qualities. It's accessible enough for all music lovers, not just die-hard Prog fans. After the lovely keyboard strings and throbbing Taurus bass pedals, this song develops into a wonderfully melodic ballad which is sung fantastically by Mark Smit. Because I had to make the lyric video I listened to this song many times and I have to admit that it never got boring. But this last comment applies to the entire album. This is also one of the strengths of this remarkable album. "Unconditional (for Betty)" is a wonderful song.

The positive vibe that started with the songs "Renewal" and "Unconditional" comes into its own in the closing song of this album "Future" (7:21). A track to which Gijs Koopman has made a major contribution. Gijs also plays keyboards on this song. A song with a positive outlook on the future. Musically it is a beautiful closing track with melodic vocal parts, driving bass work and wonderful and melodic synth solos by Ron. The keyboard work on this closer is full and always melodic. Before the last vocal part you can hear a beautiful piece full of keys and an intensity that slowly goes to a climax. This is how I know my friend Ron, when we enjoy music together. A nice ending to a remarkable album.

Usually I don't write a review for an album that I've done the artwork for (eg the last three Anima Mundi releases). But the musicians of this project convinced me that I didn't interfere with the music at all (only I enjoyed following this process and seeing it grow into a beautiful end product full of quality). So I started it the same way, writing while listening to the song in question. I wrote the review more from the point of view of the music and not from the concept which I mentioned above in the intro. You can read this again on the "Mask" page of The Foundation's website. As mentioned earlier "Mask" is the debut album of The Foundation, a progressive rock project made in the Netherlands and featuring renowned Dutch musicians from our Prog scene. Supplemented with a few enthusiastic musicians from Ron Lammers' group of friends. The renowned musicians come from the band Autumn or have a past in Knight Area and Cliffhanger. It is nice to see that these musicians inspire and enthuse each other. And together they brought out the best in each other under the leadership of Ron Lammers. This has resulted in an album with a level of quality that is not usual for a Dutch product. The album is not innovative if you only look at what the term Progressive Rock means. But that was not the intention at all. Would rather describe "Mask" as an album full of beautiful Symphonic Rock and melodic music.

One of the strengths of this album is that it is recognizable as melodic Symphonic Rock but musically it has its own style. That's why I was only able to give one reference and that for an intro of a song. Of course you have to think of Knight Area when you hear the vocals of Mark Smit. But this was the mark he pressed on their music. It is a consistent and varied album with no weaknesses. Highlights for me are of course the long title track "Mask" but also songs like "Climbing Mountains", "Blind To Reality", "Unconditional" and "Future" score high. I would like to give Jan Munnik an extra compliment on this one. Besides playing (together with Ron) the keys on songs like "Blind To Reality", "Mask", "Renewal" and "Unconditional" and some additional keys on other songs, he also took care of the mix and mastering of the album. Especially when you know that this is actually his first symphonic rock album (Autumn's music is more in the heavy segment of (Prog)Rock), he has done a fantastic job in his own M4-Studio. "Mask" sounds fantastic. In addition to all those beautiful contributions from all musicians, the violin and flute expand the sound palette even further, you would almost forget the main composer and creator (Ron Lammers) of this concept. But I am really impressed with his compositions and skills on the keyboards. With this fantastic album he makes his childhood dream come true. "Mask" is a highlight in the rich history of Dutch Symphonic Rock. Highly recommended by progVisions.

Rating progVisions: 4,5 points out of 5.

Not to be confused with an older one-shot wonder from Sweden also named The Foundation, this Dutch crew is an all star cast of the highest order, as keyboardist Ron Lammers has assembled the incredible vocalist Mark Smit of Knight Area, Rinie Huigen on electric guitars (Cliffhanger, King Eider, Novox, Knight Area), bassist extraordinaire Gijs Koopman (Cliffhanger, Novox, Sylvium, Odyssice, Knight Area), together with a few solid guest musicians. At first, I was taken by surprise as the first two spins were not done under optimal conditions (being distracted by working or driving) and I really needed to give this work its due diligence, so I settled in for a concentrated audition, which rapidly sent this into the stratosphere.

As befits a proper progressive rock opus, "Before the Dawn" instills a warm overture of orchestral and electronic symphonics, as the velvet curtain is raised on what promises to be an exhilarating ride. The drama is heightened by the seductive guitar phrasing of Jens Van der Valk, as the interest takes on hold on the senses. A baby's cries can be grating but their laughter is quite to the contrary, as it's added to the following track, appropriately titled "Birth", where Huigen gets to unleash his fretboard magic. The solo is carefully elegant, highly effusive, overpoweringly joyous and an outright thrill, as Lammers keys set the 'foundation' while the bass and drums puts the newborn on its feet. When Mark Smit seizes the microphone and extols the virtue of 'time to start the show', the spirit of " Climbing Mountains" is articulated by the repetitive 'higher', Koopman's Rickenbaker bass doing its famed rumble as the drums escalate to another level. As with every ascension, the need to rest and admire the surroundings is formulated with a lovely flute and then a violin. A raunchy guitar rant and another vocal ledge before one reaches the top. Catchy and highly (sic) enjoyable. "Blind to Reality" showcases Smit's consistently clear voice, surely one of the finer vocalist in Progland, as he can hit the higher notes with apparent ease, as well as convincingly. The melancholic feel is furthered by some spine tingling dual electric guitar ravings, swirling keyboards, and monstrous rhythmic support. Dense and frightening as impaired vision may be, the arrangement pays service to the fear. This is clearly demonstrated on the companion piece "Despair", a most turbulent affair, where colliding, collapsing and threatening columns of sound seem to impair one's balance and sure-footedness.

And then we get to the masterpiece epic the 12 minute+ title track, easily among the finest among the many great long songs of 2023, and worth the price of admission on its own. A grandiose structure, a striking main theme, solidly supported by a gorgeous electric guitar outline, setting the stage for a celebrated vocal performance by Smit ('who looks into the mirror of your heart'). Now I admit wholeheartedly being a sucker for the romantic, neo- classical, and typical symphonic prog ballad but this track has a subtle 'Firth of Fifth' in it (quite the compliment in my eyes) as the synthesizer solo is worthy of Banks and the various guitar bursts that reek of Hackett's tendency to sustain the atmosphere are exemplary. But it's the earnest voice that does the slaying part for me, pushing me gently to my knees in overt admiration. The serene outro is devastating in its beauty. I could listen to this on repeat ad infinitum. Trying to follow such a colossus is no small feat, as "Renewal" chooses an ornate piano to soothe the senses, soon to be united with a glittering guitar passage, a shimmering violin flurry and glimmering flute decoration, adding synthesized adornments as well as a hopeful vocal plea that bares its soul. Unbelievably audacious, revitalizing and utterly perfect mood swing, as Huigen rips off another blistering solo, Lammers fluttering keys adding to the joyous journey.

Unsurprisingly, "Unconditional" comes across as the most accessible, 'sing-along if you want' tune, brief, catchy and hummable, a perfect radio-friendly prog piece that is both wholesome and enjoyable. An ideal steppingstone to the finale, the calling/carrying lilt of "Future", where keyboards get to shine brightly, wholly allied with a steady rhythmic pulse, and some colourful guitar excursions. The vocals are upbeat, yet cautious, somewhat reflecting the current global angst that was severely heightened by the pandemic, with a title like the Mask, perhaps its an ode to finally having the ability to take that ugly veil off, though probably not throwing it away yet, as uncertainty remains and 'confusion will be our epitaph'.

A highly recommended suggestion, with ace musicianship, stunning vocals and great melodies, certainly well- placed among the top contenders for top 2023 prog albums. This is a project that begs to be continued and offer us more future thrills.

4.5 substantial cloaks