MAIDEN VOYAGE

When I heard about this band I was intrigued, specially if you know that their founder members worked with christian metallers of Narnia. So I was not expecting much. But due to many good reviews they got it here on PA I decided to give them a chance. And impressed I was! their sound has nothing to do with Narnia. In fact their major influence seems to be the one the classic Kansas. Ok, there are some Styx, Supertramp and maybe Queen hints here and there, but Kerry Livgren is not a guest here without a good reason.

Having said that I must say Flaship is no copycat. Their sound might be influenced by, but it is quite original and - thank god! - a bit more progressive than those aforementioned groups. In fact they made a quite interesting 70´s style prog rock but with a modern feel on it. They are not retro, although the generous doses of Hammond organ are really great. I also liked Christian Rivel vocals a lot. The production is quite good. Some tracks are better than the others but there are no fillers. Very promising start indeed!

If you like classic prog rock in the Kansas style, get this CD. If they keep this high quality standard for the next releases, I guess they have everything to become really big. Recommended. 3,5 stars rounded up to four because of personal taste.