BELIEVERS & DECEIVERS

2008 was a great prog year. Of all the amazing releases that came out I think that the Swedish bands really stood out the most (Karmakanic, Beardfish and Brother Ape!). And of all these Brighteye Brison's third release entitled Believers & Deceivers, at least to me, is the winner so that is why my first written review in here will be about this particular album. The strong seventies vibe in the music of Brighteye Brison is, as on their previous Stories, ever present. I'm the first person to embrace this since that is really the era I prefer. Nevertheless here is a feel of modern and heavier influences, not in the metal sence, but in the edginess of the performance as well as in the production. Pointless Living, which starts off the album, is a turning point from the work on the slower in pace and very melancholic Stories CD. Brighteye Brison makes a statement in stylistic change and prove that they don't intend to do the same album all over again. The closest in comparison all through the album is probably Drama by Yes. The production is very clever and sounds very satisfying without ever being overproduced. After The Storm is a collaboration between bassplayer Kristofer Eng and Per Hallman and presents a folky progrock song with lots and lots of odd meters with some sudden dashes of fusion thrown in. Guitarist Johan Oijen's soloing is stunning to say the least with a tone to die for and dexterity of highest class. Also the stronghold of the album is it's two long tracks. Hallman's The Harvest is a heavily Yes and Genesis influenced piece. The keyboards are lush with mellotron and hammond in the forefront. Musically we find touches of Psychedelica underlining the lyrical context of the song. With the melodic and powerful outro this epic affects me just thinking about it! The enormous closer by Linus Kase is called The Grand Event and is a sci-fi story true space rock/symphonic style with hundreds of different themes showing up in different disguises during it's 35 minutes! I just have to surrender to this album. Brighteye Brison have released a piece of art with Believers & Deceivers!