ESOTERIC POEM *

Esoteric Poem is a disc-long, five part song timing in at over 36 minutes long. It's basically a long, rambling poem based upon Norse mythology concerning runes, warriors, despair, war, idols, and a host of other subjects. Maybe for fans of this kind of subject this might be interesting, but I was about to give it up in several spots on this work. If my pile of dirty clothes in the hamper spouted this stuff for 36 minutes, I'd seriously consider washing them until they stopped talking.

Musically, this disc is a different story. It's about above-average for a neo prog band, showing strong influences from Genesis and early Marillion. Indeed, Francesco Grosso does a decent imitation of Fish. Occasionally the music will reach a couple areas of boredom with long periods of ambient keys just holding notes and floating around for awhile. There are a few technical recording problems in places, but not serious enough to distract. Overall, the music is good, but nothing to make you want to celebrate with a bowl of Cheerios.

Overall, this could've been an interesting concept, but the poem is just way too overdone. I think it would've been more suitable to shorten the concept and leave room for more interesting songs on other subjects, or at least had more energy in the music. The other album I have from Asgard is Imago Mundi and I would recommend first-time buyers to start with that one as it is much better than Esoteric Poem. Three stars for a good, but not essential work.