NOT TO BE OR NOT TO BE

CLIFFHANGER are a Neo-Prog band out of The Netherlands who were fairly active in the nineties. Certainly GENESIS came to mind when listening to this album, there is mellotron although it may be sampled. Lots of moog though and the bass is prominant too.The negatives are the sound quality and for me just the music in general does little for me.

"Innocent Victim" opens with piano then it kicks in with vocals before settling back around 1 1/2 minutes. It does pick back up after 7 minutes with lots of synths.The bass stands out too but it calms down again before 8 minutes with vocals.The piano is back leading after 11 1/2 minutes then it turns intense. "Sewers" is an instrumental. Piano and mellotron early. A beat after 2 minutes then the guitar and bass come to the fore a minute later. It settles before 7 1/2 minutes to end it. "The Artist" opens with vocals, drums and a full sound. It settles back before 2 minutes with vocals and synths before kicking in again after 3 1/2 minutes. Another calm 5 1/2 minutes in then it gets fuller.

"Ragnarok" is the 25 minute epic. I like the way the mellotron comes and goes until 2 minutes in when the cymbals and synths come in. Guitar and drums take over before 4 minutes. Nice bass too. A strong GENESIS flavour arrives after 6 minutes. It calms right down before 9 minutes then kicks back in with the guitar out front before 11 1/2 minutes. Fast paced vocals 13 minutes in and it turns chaotic before 16 minutes. A calm a minute later. Piano and synths before 19 minutes.Mellotron too. It picks up some before 22 minutes. "Moon" opens in an orchestral manner then the piano joins in.This is a spacey soundscape that ends before 4 minutes. And while on my liner notes it says the track is just over 4 minutes, on my stereo it shows it at over 16 minutes.There is silence until after 14 minutes then we get some silly stuff before this heavy soundscape rolls in with avant piano.Where was this earlier ? It's way better. Oh well.

I can't give this 3 stars even though it's clear these guys have lots of talent. I just can't get into the music.