SERPENTS IN CAMOUFLAGE

If PETER GABRIEL had ever joined MARILLION then the result would be very close to CITIZEN CAIN's sound,a band formed from Scottish musicians in London around 1982.Original line-up consisted of Cyrus Scott,Gordon Feenie and Tim Taylor.This trio recorded some tracks between 1982-1988,however they broke up shortly after.In 1990 Cyrus re-formed CITIZEN CAIN with a totally re-freshed line-up and the band released their debut ''Serpents in camouflage'' in 1993 on SI Music,later re-released on Cyclops.

CITIZEN CAIN offer a whole hour of splendid music influenced by the likes of GENESIS and MARILLION,with both mellow and more grandiose parts.Especially vocalist Cyrus sounds like PETER GABRIEL more than Gabriel himself,being one of the best singers/Gabriel-immitators in the prog league!His expressive and theatrical vocals is surrounded by the nice guitar work of Frank Kennedy,who delivers a few heart-breaking solos and distorted passages in the vein of STEVE ROTHERY,and the excellent synth work of Stewart Bell,close to the style of MARILLION's Mark Kelly.Not every music theme in here will remind you of MARILLION,as some light flutes and smooth guitar playing recall GENESIS at their pastoral moments.Every fan of the afore-mentioned bands and musicians will undoubtfully sleep and wake up with CITIZEN CAIN's debut on their CD player.The musicianship,the ideas and the compositional skills of the band are certainly awesome.However,those who dislike bands with lack of originality might turn their back on them.Nevertheless,CITIZEN CAIN are one of the greatest GENESIS/MARILLION-influenced acts around and deserve your attention and support...3.5 stars would be a fair rating,I think...