EARTHSTONE

First in line is the title track Seed, a funny little rocker with as most significant feature a machine gun like keyboard passage like a sort of staccato play. Nice opener but not one the very best yet. 3,5*.

Second tune, E.L.F. is more melodic and therefore more memorable as a song. A very nice instrumental beginning is followed by an equally fine vocal part. Another great instrumental bit makes this track really worth while. 3,75*.

Next is the stream track I was referring to called The Hand of Glory. This is one of the sweetest tunes I've ever heard. Not sweet in a cheesy way but just very lovely. Enchanting keyboard playing gets this track started and these first few minutes already make this excellent song to one of my favorite neo tracks ever. Halfway a sort of repetitive bit almost ruins the track but last few minutes the wonderful keyboard returns to save it in the end. 4,75*.

Unicorn Home starts as a modern pop song but within first minute the progressive leanings are already there. This turns out to be a standard neo progressive song, not very original but nothing really wrong with it either. Same as the opening title track this is not a memorable highlight. A fine guitar solo in the middle is the highlight on this one. 3,5*.

Llid the God is a strange title of a strange gloomy song. A very special alternation on this very neo-prog album. Halfway a mysterious keyboard piece proves the ambient mood of this instrumental track. 3,5*.

The Splintered Sky starts a bit mysteriously as well but gets more regular later on. The special atmosphere remains throughout the song though and I really like this feature. Some dissonances here and there but in the end the melodic neo progressive leanings win the battle proven by a superb guitar solo clocking over a minute. 4,5*.

The Set is fully melodic once again and suddenly my ear detects the typical "drumming" on this album. As I read in the band description, this is in fact "computer drumming" a consequence of the bands line up consisting of only two persons. Then this kind of drumming is to be expected. This seventh track is another very good one but not one of the outstanding tracks still. 3,75*.

This also goes for Whitlingham Lane that can be called the ballad of the album, one of the more quiet tracks. The laid back guitar playing is a caress for the ear and this song seals the excellent status of the album because I can already reveal that the highlight is yet to come. This one makes 4* comfortably.

The mentioned highlight is the closing epical In the Winter of Night. If you already liked the album so far (which I did !) then you're in for a final treat, a true grand finale of this extremely nice album. This final track treats you with all elements that have been shown so far, Brilliant keyboard play with wonderful melodies as well as some excellent guitar passages. The keyboard dominates on this final track. 4,75*.

In conclusion I can only say this is a great album that hides itself for exposure unjustly. This Seed should be a neo progressive classic and not a hidden gem with one or two reviews. As the band description tells this can probably at least partly be blamed to the band leader himself. I hope he will do his PR better in the future. Some maths show that the average is exactly 4 stars so that's what this will get. (Highly) Recommended for true neo fans.

Several of the tunes simply never drift to the background, in particular "Unicorn Home" and "In the Winter of Night", while "Llid the God" is an imposing instrumental that blows the socks of the new age genre from which it might arguably have sprung. If all tracks had been as good as these three, we might be looking at a classic, but the rest are not bad either, particularly "Hand of Glory", so I really have few complaints except why was there no second album?