CRY OF DERELICTION VOL. II

With Cry of Dereliction, Volume II, Autumn Whispters show a marked improvement from its predecessor, 2011's Volume I. There is much more variation and breadth to the song stylings and instrumental choices here and a greater presence from the gorgeous voice of Tirill Mohn. Leader Dino Steffens has wisely allowed more input from his band mates and other contributors in his effort to present the world with his "poetic rock with progressive and classical elements." Still, not everything works here. I wish the band had not decided to include the David Bowie/Uriah Heep-like "Walls" (4:51) (6/10), and "The Puppet's Monologue" (3:34) (7/10) is of questionable value. Another complaint I have is with the monotonous lack of variation in Dino's singing and voice melodies. Every song's vocal sounds the same. Also, the Doppler Effect on sustained violin/strings notes is way overused. Overall this is really just a collection of pretty straightforward folk pop.

Highlights for me include: the prog epic, "Cry of Dereliction, Volume II" (12:57) (9/10); "Fire and Ice" (4:01) (9/10); the John Lennon/Beatles-like "Auguries of Innocence" (3:43) (8/10); the pretty if laid back "Autumn" (7:58) (8/10), "I Measure Every Greaf I Meet" (5:52) (8/10), and "To a Child Dancing in the Wind" (5:29) (8/10).