STRANGER AEONS

It's not every day I get to hear a band from Lithuania. However, with this band's EP 'Lost', I was first introduced to the music of Lithuanian progressive hard rock band Stranger Aeons. They had left a relatively strong impression over the three songs I had heard before this debut album, and in that sense 'eNneagon' delivered more of the same music I was expecting from them. While still largely unknown to most outside their homeland, this band creates an edgy blend of hard rock and minute jazz and metal touches to create a great piece of rock music. Unfortunately, the band's sound is incredibly dated and feels tame by today's standards.

Exotic riffs, anthemic songwriting, and progressive touches here and there comprise what Stranger Aeons' sound is about. The showcase to the music always remains the voice of the female singer here. Atop grungy hard rock riffs and fairly formulaic (albeit effective) musicianship, the vocalist (listed here as E.B) sounds like an Eastern European Grace Slick, whose lower register voice really defines the band and their retro sound. The songwriting of 'eNneagon' relies mostly on keen melodies and guitar grooves, but the showcase is generally on their vocalist, who is easily the strongest aspect of this group's performance.

To space out the generally strong songwriting are a couple of shorter interlude tracks; the intro 'We Are Here' and the beautiful piano-fueled 'Intermezzo'. This adds a sort of cohesion to the first half of the album that otherwise may have been missing. The two real weaknesses to Stranger Aeons however do really stand out in their music. The first of these is that it doesn't feel as if Stranger Aeons is taking any steps with their music that weren't covered by the innovators a good four decades for. Sure, there are some jazzy tinges here and there to mellow out the general hard rock of 'eNneagon', but it certainly feels as if the band is stuck in a different time. Even more importantly is the somewhat cold production and performance on the album. While all members of the band are evidently fairly good with their respective instruments, the music lacks any organic texture to it, instead feeling like a very by-the-numbers rendition of what are otherwise very good tracks. This is especially evident in the rhythm guitar, which keeps the same muted tone throughout and never feels too inspired in its delivery. Luckily, the lead guitar solos do get some flair going for them.

Stranger Aeons has made a good album here, although it does feel a bit cold to consider it a really great debut. The band's strongest suit is certainly their songwriting however, so a fantastic release could be in the future for them.

An introductory EP from a new progressively inclined hard rock band from the small state of Lithuania, Stranger Aeons makes a surprisingly good first professional EP with 'Lost'. Titled after the single of their first full length, the title track here is certainly the most relevant piece of music on the release, but as with all worthy singles releases, the lead track is topped off with two potent b-sides, that- musically speaking- surpass the main attraction.

As for the title track, 'Lost' is a female-vocal driven track that isn't quite heavy or intense enough to be considered metal; it instead works well as a melodic, conventional and memorable hard rock song. The music is typically centered around the vocals of the frontwoman, which are pretty good (and deep for a woman's voice) but don't have the same flair or finesse one might expect from a more professional group. The song eventually breaks down from it's catchy choruses and melodies into a latin-tinged breakdown using a new bridge vocal line that doesn't work too well in comparison to the nicer vocal moments in 'Lost'. Overall however, a pretty straightforward, catchy rock song.

Luckily for this EP, the interest does not stop there. While a decent song, 'Lost' on it's own would not be worth more than a couple of listens. The second track on the EP 'Honeydew' suddenly takes the band in a very different direction, instead revolving around the beauties of intsrumental guitar rock. Here, the guitarist shows some fantastic skill at crafting melodic lead solos, making this a surefire standout.

Lastly is 'Kastanas Pradeda Zydeti', a song that reintroduces vocals (albeit in a very different style) and adopts a different feel to it. While the first two were rather upbeat, 'Kastanas Pradeda Zydeti' is a laid-back, sombre tune, although it brings some of the same incredible guitar lead mastery that 'Honeydew' demonstrated. Here, male and female vocals stand out, singing in their native language, and the result is something that is much less poppy in nature, but more profound and meaningful.

Thanks to two excellent b-sides and a memorable, if flawed single, 'Lost' is a promising introduction to this Lithuanian progressive rock band.