CLOCK UNWOUND

Quite an improvement in skill, polish, sophistication, and sound from the band'd self-titled debut three years ago. My favorite part of this band is its use of a broad array of eclectic musical instruments. My criticism is the "oldness" of many of the sounds and sound styles preferred by the band.

1. "Prelude:Incipit" (3:21) low classical piano opening is joined by distant synth voices and then trumpet solo. Nice song, nice intro. Quite cinematic. (9/10)

2. "The Clock Unwound" (15:58) opens with a heavy Scandinavian prog metal sound before settling into a more proggy shifting song. Muted male vocals precede a nice section of extended synth soling. Vocals at the end of the fourth minute, this time female, before being rejoined by the original male. Nice together! At 6:18 everything crescendos and disappears leaving chant-like choral "aaahs" before the song switches melodies and speeds to go a different direction. Nice! Electric guitar lead is quite nice. Another quiet break at 8:15 leads into a slow, spacious, ominous section with a nice pastoral flute solo over the top. Very "Court of the Crimson King"-like but not too imitative. Very nice male vocal performance here followed by another, more-sensitive electric guitar solo and then tenor saxophone. With two minutes to go the pace quickens and the sound palette fills with electric guitar and synths soloing madly over the top as the drums and pace continually speed up. The best work I've heard from this band yet! (9/10)

3. "Fade Away" (7:25) opens with a series of odd electric guitar chords played in slow arpeggi before date synth wash and trumpet join in. Male tenor voice enters to tell his tale in a Leonard Cohen-like style. Enter Veronika to make it a duet. Decent instrumental mid-section, then amazingly sudden shift back to opening themes, sounds, and pacing. Odd song. (7.5/10) 4. "Smother" (8:49) opens with a sound strikingly similar to that of THE REASONING's 2009 album The Awakening before turning Broadway musical at the end of the third minute. Awesome band cohesion in the seventh minute; weird key change at 5:45 followed by another odd jazz trumpet solo (8.5/10)

5. "Plans Askew" (9:22) opens with a few electrified guitars playing a nice little weave before male vocal enters. Reminds me of some Shulman singing. The next section is full of bombast of the "classic rock" era of the 1970s and 80s. At 3:25 the mix finally feels full, pretty. TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA comes to mind. Then at 4:40 we are suddenly brought back to pastoral folk earth. Nice flute and baritone sax play. (8/10)

6. "Resignation" (10:16) interesting and engaging though a little too monotonous for glowing reviews.Spoken word sounds a lot like the voice and approach of another Scandinavian oddity, MAJOR PARKINSON. (8.5/10)

Four stars; a solid effort of progressive rock music worth recommending to others. If this band continues to grow as they have their releases may soon be nearing masterpiece level.