SALT OF THE EARTH

The only well-known Latvian prog band hails from Riga and came to birth in 1991 as a Thrash Metal act, led by brothers Aigars (guitar, vocals) and Eriks Cervinskis (drums).The early years featured expanded 7- and 8-piece line-ups, as on the ''Bite In The Dust'' cassette album, recorded in 1994 and released in 1996, showing a Heavy Rock group trying to step into Progressive Rock territories.The most important change on musical direction occured in 1997, when keyboardist Juris Rats joined Holy Lamb, determining their sound at a significant deegree.In 1999 the band released the ''Salt Of The Earth'' CD, which drew the interest of Mellow Records.

Any metal influence was now history and ''Salt Of The Earth'' presents a band heavily influenced by CAMEL, GENESIS, MARILLION and PINK FLOYD.''Whoever Designed This Game'' is characterized by its strong guitar work and the great sound twists in a typical Neo Prog mood along with excellent vocals, while ''The Lingering Dream'' is nice spacey instrumental track with hypnotic piano all the way and a fine FLOYD-ian ending solo.The 12-min. ''My Star Untouchable'' sees the band at its best, despite being almost a MARILLION rip-off.Incredible and dramatic guitar workouts, heavy sense of melody on the piano breaks and FISH-like spoken narrations among the great vocals of Aigars Cervinskis picture a composition full of intense emotions and shifting moods.''Rainfall In Your Heart'' is the most original composition by Holy Lamb on this work, having a Fusion-touch on the guitars and a light jazzy piano middle part next to the familiar melodic content.But this style does not fit the band very well I admit.The closing ''The Sea'' clocks at over 16 minutes and offers a nice Symphonic Rock experience with melodic guitars, calm pianos, crystalline female vocals and even a strong organ wash towards the end.Good track but not as compentent as ''My Star Untouchable''.

Well-crafted Progressive Rock with a few highlights to be found, that deserves a better fame.Very good vocals, impressive guitar work and intricate melodies will please the majority of prog listeners, though I can see many of them being turned down by the evident GENESIS and MARILLION influences.Still strongly recommended...3.5 stars.