THE SEDUCTION OF MADNESS

At first, I thought this is the band in the vein of Genesis by looking at the name. So at that time I thought that it's something like Pallas, Jadis, IQ or other neo progressive band. But when I spun the album at the first time I was quite shocked that the music was quite heavy and it's in totally different vein than any album Genesis has ever released. It's not totally progressive metal like what we have typically listened to like Dream Theater or the like - even though there is some elements of the music that are similar. I think the band has tried to appear differently from typical riff-based heavy progressive metal music. In general, the music is rough with some heavy riffs and guitar solo with some flavors of symphonic music.

The opening track "Horizon Of Events" (6:05) proves to be varied in styles starting with screaming vocal at start followed with guitar riffs which do not indicate the sound of typical progressive music. Indeed, the riffs remind me to the music of King Crimson. The music style combines ups and downs in different styles, textured by riffs and powerful combination of drums and vocals.

"Taenia" (4:45) is a unique song in itself because at start of the music it demonstrates a music in prog met vein but in the middle of the track there is a break with unique organ sound. It moves to the next track with more on symphonic style than regular progressive metal "W8less" (6:49) where the heavy riffs join the music later. The combined work of keyboard, drums, bass and guitars is excellent. The song also contains inventive keyboard solo augmented by dynamic basslines. The intro part is quite long until vocal enters in the middle of the track. The music is diverse in style with many ups and downs throughout the track. The more I listen to this album the more I like it.

It then suddenly moves to a break with wonderful piano work in "Noia" (5:53) to accompany low register notes vocal line. Listening to this intro part you would not believe if someone categorizes this album as progressive metal album. I think the piano work is played with top skills of Mauro Olivo. Alessandro Seravalle sings beautifully here. Yes, you might remember bands like Genesis, Marillion or Yes when you are listening to this track only.

"Strange Appetites (Pornopazzia) " (4:54) is a pure instrumental. It starts off with a relatively complex intro in the vein of King Crimson / Gentle Giant music with excellent guitar work combined with dynamic drumming and keyboards. The intro part is really powerful and enjoyable for most of you who like progressive music. At approx 2:55 minutes the music turns into faster tempo with more complex arrangements followed by excellent keyboard work. .

The music continues nicely with "Le Château Fou " (6:08) in similar vein like previous song but this time is something similar to circus music. What surprising is the inclusion of flute right before the vocal enters the music. It's really good, power metal combined with flute. The vocal enters nicely to the music and the music still continues in symphonic style.

"All The Best Years (My Top Ten)" (3:21) is an excellent instrumental track with great flute work combined with soft guitar riffs and melody at break. There are many inventive segments this song demonstrates. It proves that the music of Garden Wall is quite diverse in styles. "The Doll" (8:27) is the longest track in this album and it demonstrates how the boys in the band wer quite creative in songwriting al well as putting it together in an excellent. Like other tracks, this one also offers unexpected curved lines in terms of structure but the whole segments constitute cohesive effort. "Blurp" (1:46) is a wonderful bridge with great flute work and complex arrangement which brings the album to the concluding, album title, track "Seduction (Of Madness)" (7:51). It starts in grandiose style through a combination of repetitive piano work augmented beautifully with a series of blast music followed with stunning piano solo combined with other instruments. There are many ups and downs in beautiful way. When vocal enters the music it reminds me to Gentle Giant choir line. So how are gonna categorize this album? It's truly a prog album because it delivers a series of mystique.

Overall, I do not think this album is a full progressive metal album that you might have thought a proximity with Dream Theater or other progressive metal albums. If you look into deep the music of Garden Wall, you would agree with me that the music has heavy riffs but they do not dominate the whole segments in the album. Some tracks, in fact, have no progressive metal elements at all like the title track. What I would suggest is that this album is worth collecting, it's an excellent addition to any prog music collection. The music is a blend of King Crimson, Gentle Giant, and a bit of Dream Theater or Symphony X.Keep on proggin'..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW