AUGUST IN THE URALS

The thing I like the most about this album is the cover art. I ddn't notice for some time that there is a city up in the sky that the person in the boat is pointing at. I was previously taken up with the river, trees and mountains all looking so beautiful. DELUGE GRANDER are basically CEREBUS EFFECT with a different bass player playing a more symphonic style of music.

The opening track "Inaugral Bash" is almost 27 minutes long and is divided into seven parts. A song of this length has many tempo and mood changes with sax, xylophone, trumpet and flute being used. There is a darkness that comes and goes as well as sampled mellotron not only on this track but on other songs as well. Lots of piano on this one and some good guitar work.

"August In The Arals" opens with acoustic guitar as the tempo picks up a minute in. We get vocals on this track but they really disappoint. The guitar and soundscape after 5 minutes is fantastic. Vocals are back 12 1/2 minutes in and the bass is prominant. "Abandoned Mansion Afternoon" has vocals and the guitar is a little more aggressive as flute comes and goes. "A Squirrel" is my favourite song on this album. Drums and piano are fast paced to open and the song becomes quite jazzy. The keyboards really liven this song up. The guitar sounds great especially after 5 1/2 minutes. "The Solitude Of Miranda" has a Spanish feel to it. There are female vocals with uptempo piano melodies all over it. The Spanish flavour is back.

This is one of these albums that I feel I should really like, but for some reason I can't get into it. 3 stars.