CHAPTER AND VERSE

Australian band THE MERLIN BIRD has a history going back a decade or so, but without too much recorded material to their name so far. They released an initial EP back in 2003, and then a lapse of more than a decade occurred before they were ready with their debut album, "Chapter and Verse", which was self-released in 2014.

With something of a foundation in folk rock, The Merlin Bird is a band that perhaps will have the greatest appeal amongst those, who generally tend to favor the more folk-oriented varieties of progressive rock. At the same time, their style isn't such that it can be described as a conventional band in that part of the progressive rock universe either, and their compositions include a fair share of classic progressive rock elements as well. But as far as a key audience is concerned, those with a taste for bands blending elements from folk music with progressive rock should be the ones that most easily will be swayed by the charms of this recording.