SHADE WITHOUT COLOR

From Hungary! Yes! These polished artists have here created some heavy prog textures with sounds and motifs from other styles and ethnicities (many Middle Eastern/Arabic) to deliver politically-purposed sampled messages from world personalities.

1. "Get Rid Of" (6:00) (8.667/10)

2. "Leaders" (6:51) Awesome grungy music supporting some awesome, cogent quotes from world personalities. A top three song for me. (13.5/15)

3. "Chasing Time" (12:18) good, solid metal jamming with some great catchy riffs and motifs but nothing really amazing or innovative to make this one stand out. (21.25/25)

4. "Let Me Be No Nearer" (7:14) Arabian Reggae? I thought only MYRATH could do this! Don't worry: it goes full metal in the middle (but then it goes ENIGMA melodic!). I like the voice & presence of the female vocalist. (12.5/15)

5. "Acceptance" (5:37) a little jazz/R&B with attitude! Same formula where it gets heavy in the middle before redirecting into something with some pop elements and then trying to go heavy again. (8.5/10)

6. "Deliberate Disguises" (4:54) machine gun guitar metal with near-disco beat. Fine for its ilk. Good riff-stops in the middle followed by eerie vocal samples. For a true metal song, I actually like it! One of my other top three songs. (8.75/10)

7. "Reaper Man" (9:20) more Arabian sounds--though in the realm of subtleties. If all Prog Metal were like this and the previous song, I might become a convert! At times, because of the long instrumental passages and rhythmic shifts, I feel as if I'm listening to a recording of a Blue Man Group concert--or a heavier side of Ed Wynne/OZRIC TENTACLES. They even throw in some of the keyboard sounds and soft passages from THE CURE! (17.667/20)

8. "Whimper" (8:15) too RUSH-like with not enough variety and separation to keep me engaged--until the second half when a passage of delicately picked electric guitar plays out for a bit before being joined by ADIEMUS-like drums. NIce effect from the Mellotron behind the music and voice quote sample of T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Man". (13/15)

9. "Rejtekből (6:49) is a continuation from the previous song, using the synth washes to transition to a more ENIGMA/HYPNO5E-like song with cool Arabian female vocalise and cello over the top of a weave of some interesting Middle Eastern percussives. Great chord progression behind cello and vocal sample in the final two minutes. Great atmospheric song and my other top three. (13.25/15)

Total Time 67:18

B/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection.