SHANGRI-LA

Exactly at a time when Brother Ape were finding their way into the prog map with the first official release launched and a good contract with Progress Records, the band had to face the departure of Peter Dahlström, who quit for personal reasons.His bass and keyboard duties were entirely taken over by Gunnar Maxen and the lead vocals are delivered by Stefan Damicolas, heading for a second album.''Shangri-La'' was released in summer 2006, supported again by Progress Records.

The abscence of Dahlström fortunately had not a big impact on the band's inspiration, which continues to be a fantastic amalgam of vocal-based Art Rock, pastoral Symphonic Rock and powerful Fusion.The choice of the remaining trio was to offer short but very rich compositions with mind-blowing changes between sounds and styles, working extremely well with the presence of some lovely vocal harmonies.The album is full of clever compositions, ranging from energetic rockers with polyphonic arrangements in the vein of A.C.T., smooth symphonic soundscapes heavily influenced by 70's GENESIS and tremendous and viscious Fusion pieces with ALLAN HOLDSWORTH-like guitar work and big time keyboard exercises.What makes ''Shangri-La'' so unique though is that this demanding musicianship is presented with a strong sense of melody and a nice amount of accesibility to make all tracks fairly memorable.The fantastic guitar riffs, the jazzy interludes, the symphonic keyboards and the excellent vocal work, all combined result a work, where melody meets complexity in a beautiful way.

Another winner from Brother Ape.It is sad the group has not gained the fame it trully deserves but do yourself a favor and chase this magnificent release.Highly recommended for all fans of fascinating Art Rock.