YESTERDAY'S FUTURE, TOMORROW'S PAST

AZURETH is the result of the collaboration between two musicians from USA and one from Norway.Leading figure keyboardist Stephen Rivera hails from Florida,guitarist Mark Connors comes from Texas,while drummer/bassist/vocalist Kenneth Aspeslaen is the Norwegian guy.While info about this project are scarce,it seems that their work came as a result of exchanging music ideas through the web!Their debut had the surreal title ''Yesterday's future,tomorrow's past'' and it was pressed privately in 2004.

AZURETH seem to have been influenced by the giants of prog rock's golden era.Immediately GENESIS,E.L.P. and YES spring to mind,while listening to this album,of course there are lot of modern elements in here,but the three musicians definitely wanted to create something close to the likes of these bands.The album is characterized by the extremely well-crafted melodies,the retro aesthetics and the absolutely well-executed compositions,while everything in here seems to have been worked very well.Rivera does an excellent work,using both modern and vintage keyboards like the Hammond organ with also some traces of mellotron and guitarist Connors is the guy responsible of all the great melodies played in this effort.Aspeslaen uses the grandiose Rickenbacker bass and his voice is very balanced and emotional.The greatest example of these guys' talent is the grand suite ''The grand design'',clocking close to 40 minutes and split in six parts,offering everything a classic prog fan wishes for:melody, changing moods, shifting tempos, Classical piano/keyboard parts and a heavy amount of emotional atmosphere!There is also a very good cover of GENESIS' ''Afterglow'' from the ''Wind and wuthering'' album, which I really enjoyed!Generally this is an absolutely satisfying release with some good and some great moments,which I personally recommend more than highly.An unknown modern progressive rock pearl!