OUT OF ABBFINOOSTY COMES THE STORM

It's hard to describe about this band. Is it a band or an artist? Well, the name itself implies to a band name but when I look at the CD sleeve it's actually almost one-man band. It's ASIF (sounds like Indonesian name hah .??), the mastermind of the "band". If you look at the list of line-up, you may perceive this band has so many members. It's not. Most instruments except drums were played by this man. Have no idea who he is but definitely he is a great guitarist. Overall, this album is good with some excellent tracks.

The first time I spin the CD with "When The Sun Explodes" I got a sense of GENESIS-like music at intro part. The keyboard sound made me to senses that way. But when the drum comes in the body of the music, it flows in an upbeat tempo with hard rock style and guitar riff (nice riff). This track rocks!!! All instruments (except drums) and vocal are performed by Asif. It's an energetic song with stunning guitar. This is the kind of track you would like to hear in the morning to wake you up from snoozing. Get-up to work mannnn!!! Yeaaahhhhh ..!!!

The fisrt track continuous seamlessly to the second track, my top favorite track, "Interstellar" (nope nope . there is no Overdrive like Pink Floyd's). This track is opened by an atmospheric spacey keyboard sound with heavy voice narration (by Asif? Seems like .. I dunno). Hey, his guitar style in this track is fabulous mannn!!! I like it very much. This time, keyboard is assisted by Alan Dickerson. This track is very dynamic with touchy and memorable melody. Asif's guitar style in this track is sort of STEVE MORSE's or RITCHIE BLACKMORE's. Even the structure of this instrumental track is similar to RAINBOW's instrumental piece "Still I'm Sad" of RITCHIE's debut album. "Interstellar" rocks!! I used to repeat this track and play it LOUD.

The third track "Cyberspace" has great lead guitar melody but the music seems so empty as while Asif does his vocal, only drumming that fills the music and a thin sound of keyboard. It's so empty. There are some explorative keyboard sound by himself but it does not make the song rich enough in instrumentation. "Saddest Girl" has bit of FLOYDian music at intro part. "Love Like This" is another intriguing track with long keyboard intro followed by excellent drumming and vocal. Unlike other tracks, this one is keyboard-based music. Interesting. Listening to this track reminds me to RICK WAKEMAN's "Who I Am" from "Silent Nights" album. Not similar, but the musical nuances are the same.

"Churchyard" is another keyboard-based song with heavy voice of Asif and the voice of dead of DAVE FANCOURT. The vocal part at intro is Gabriel like. The inclusion of female voice by LEANEE KALIEDO (?) and trumpet by TONY NASH make this song so unique. Some stunning guitar is also played here. "Hell Or High Water" is opened by a strange keyboard sound followed by heavy voice of Asif and drumming (by Robert Lowe). No bass guitar is used. I think most of tracks in this album use little or no bass guitar at all. "Dream" is mellow track with soft keyboard and guitar fills. The music style and melody are close to PFM style, especially on the way Asif sings.

Well, it's hard for me to give a right picture of the kind of music this band plays as I never heard any kind of prog music like this. ABBFINOOSTY has its own identity. I treat this album as an excellent addition to my prog collection. However, I fail to identify any close association of their music with other band. So, I leave it up to you to decide. For me, this album deserves four star. Gatot Widayanto, Indonesia.