THE LOST ART OF TIME TRAVEL

This is a lot of fun. Very melodic with lots of bombast reminding me of SPOCK'S BEARD at times. An upgrade in my opinion over their debut. The cover art is cool, and they thank Martin Orford formerly of IQ, and a few of the guys from SAVATAGE among others.

"The Mind Machine" opens powerfully before it settles with some nice bass lines. Vocals a minute in.This just makes me feel good. It kicks back in SPOCK'S BEARD style before calming down again with piano 3 minutes in. Love the sound a minute later. Contrasts continue and check out the chunky bass. Lots of organ late. "Thieves" opens with spacey synths before guitar and eventually a full sound arrives before 1 1/2 minutes. Nice. Vocals before 2 minutes as it settles. Contrasts continue. Mellotron after 6 minutes with a powerful sound to follow. Spacey waves end it. "You're Alive" opens with strummed guitar as vocals and harmonies come in. Synths after 2 minutes. A catchy track with that line sung over and over "Now you know that you're alive". "One Tragedy At A Time" is the 14 minute epic and my favourite track on here. A powerful soundscape as organ plays over top. It turns darker with mellotron a minute in. It's brief as piano comes in. Vocals after 2 1/2 minutes. The synths a minute later are SAGA-like. Some huge bass lines follow. Instrumentally i'm reminded of RUSH at times here. It settles before 7 minutes and then gets spacey. It kicks back in before 10 minutes as themes are repeated.

"I'm Not Blind" is brighter with acoustic guitar and vocals. The electric guitar comes ripping in after a minute as drums, bass and organ join the fray. A nice heavy sound is the result. "Easy Tomorrow" is bombastic with organ and drums standing out. Vocals after 1 1/2 minutes. This is simply a rip snorter. Guitar lights it up 4 1/2 minutes in. "Haze" is mellow with reserved vocals early. Mellotron and chunky bass after 3 minutes. Great sound after 6 minutes. Piano before 7 minutes as reserved vocals return. More mellotron before 8 minutes.

This is really a collection of good songs that are played at a very high level. Again SPOCK'S BEARD is a good reference point. Excellent vocals as well. The negative is that it's a little too commercial sounding with those STYX styled vocals.