THE DAWN RAIDS (PART TWO)

Here is part 2 of the 2-part E.P. series called "The Dawn Raids" which features unreleased or rare songs that were recorded during the "Tightly Unwound" sessions. Both of these E.P.s were limited releases of 2000 copies and were only available through online order. The first track is another version of "Tightly Wound" from the album, this time it is an acoustic version. It is also 1 minute shorter than the album version. Not a bad version, but it is missing the lushness of the version from part 1. It's funny how the acoustic version is almost more dark sounding and closer to the atmosphere of the version on the album. The synthesized strings do appear on the last half of the song for a short time but are cut short so the song misses the beautiful ending that was on Part 1. "Freefall" is a previously unreleased song from the album sessions. It is mellow throughout, but not a traditional verse, chorus song with some untraditional rhythm going on throughout. "Bitter Day" was written specifically for this E.P. This one starts out quietly and then explodes into a nice full band instrumental before going quiet again but retaining a fairly straightforward rhythm. It oscillates back and forth from full band to quiet passages. Very beautiful melody and interesting track. "Second Chance" was previously only available as a digital download on a separate EP. It starts out in a very underwhelming way, but builds nicely throughout, goes into a very instrumental passage where it sounds like a bowing guitar which gives a nice special effect to a beautiful crescendo and ending. Very very nice.

Again, these 2 E.P.s work very well together and are a worthwhile additions to a prog collection. Just like part 1, 4 star material.