FROM SILENCE TO SOMEWHERE

Imagine Jon Anderson in his prime jamming with Genesis, with medieval harmonies suggested by Gentle Giant and an overall pastoral atmosphere suggested by a mashup of peak Gryphon, Genesis' own Trespass and Anthony Phillips' Geese and the Ghost (with energetic outbursts here and there inspired by a few spins of ELP's debut) - then imagine Anglagard and Landberk getting together to produce a cover version that blows the original out of the water. Then imagine Wobbler came along - six years after their Yes-esque Rites at Dawn - and went "pffft, hold my beer and let me show you how this is done *properly*".

If you can hold all that in your head, you might have something appropriate expectations for this release, and for many prog fans the actual album will exceed them. When it comes to modern expressions of classic 1970s prog approaches and that medieval, pastoral style that a certain subset of the original prog bands grasped at occasionally, From Silence to Somewhere doesn't just nail it, it constructs the whole darn carpenter's shop. The major caveat I would add is that once you have listened to this, great swathes of retro-prog bands will seem tepid and flavourless in comparison - you need to be prepared to assess the rest of your prog collection in a whole new light after listening to this one.