THE SIXTH SENSE

I was still in a sheer euphoric mood about their previous effort entitled New Faust when I received this new album by Russian symphonic progrock sensation Little Tragedies. After a first listening session, I concuded that the obvious ELP and Gerard hints are less and there is also more variation and originality. In fact Little Tragedies has developped into a progrock band that can compete with the current top bands like The Flower Kings, The Tangent and IQ, their only problem is that the vocals are Russian, not really accessible.

The first song The Sixth Sense is loaded with bombastic keyboards (especially Hammond organ and fat synthesizer flights) and heavy guitar riffs, it sounds like "ELP meets Ayreon" but the warm and distinctive Russian vocals give an extra dimension. The next track Bird is a kind of musical Pandora's Box: first a Floydian atmosphere with dreamy saxophone and fragile slide-guitar, then an accellaration featuring sparkling piano, propulsive guitar riffs and great interplay. This is followed by sensitive electric guitar work and an organ solo, then suddenly a spectucalar break with sensational synthesizer sounds and heavy metal-guitar riffs, impressive!The other ten songs sound melodic, very tasteful, elaborate and especially varied, from dreamy with sensitive piano/warm vocals and compelling with Latimer-inspired guitar to fluent with fiery guitar/saxophone and sumptuous with lush keyboards. The interplay between the harpsichord and howling guitar in some songs sounds very delicate. My highlight on this CD is the track You And I: first sparkling piano, sensitive guitar and warm vocals, then a wonderful classical piano piece and finally a great build-up with bombastic Hammond organ and flashy synthesizers, accompanied by a dynamic rhytm-section, breathtaking!

My conclusion: Little Tragedies has made a great album, very varied and loaded with good musical ideas and excellent soli on several instruments. Just check their MP3 files or try to get their CD's, highly recommended!