YESTERDAY'S FUTURE, TOMORROW'S PAST

AZURETH are a trio made up of 2 Americans and one Norwegian. I must say that this album was a pleasant surprise to me.There is an accent to the vocals as the Norwegian drummer / bass player is also the singer. I really like the guitar and the keyboards on this one.This is some sort of a concept album.

My favourite track is the opener "Wake The Dragon". It opens with nature sounds as the vocals join in. Guitar before a minute. Great sound. Nice prominant bass too. Synths lead 1 1/2 minutes in. The guitar 3 minutes in sounds great and so do the synths and bass that follow. The guitar is back before those nature sounds return to end it. "Searching" opens with guest cello and other sounds as vocals join in. The guitar before 2 minutes is Gilmour-like. "Man On The Moon" opens with spoken words before it kicks in. Vocals and strummed guitar follow. Drums and keyboards are next and guitar late. "The Grand Design" is divided into 6 parts. First up is "Overture" with the church organ leading the way before drums, bass and guitar join in. Keyboards take over 2 minutes in in this uptempo section. It settles with sampled mellotron. Bass follows as the drums continue. Synths are next before the guitar returns.Part II is "The Grand Design" which opens with spoken words before the music kicks in. I like the guitar 4 minutes in. Lots of synths late.

"Shadow Of A Man" opens with piano. Vocals 1 1/2 minutes in and they get passionate after 2 1/2 minutes. Guitar a minute later sounding great as usual. It settles as contrasts continue. It blends into "Fanfare" and they really end up jamming here with guitar. "Humanity Revisited" opens with piano followed by a full sound including vocals. "The Sleeper Has Awakened" opens with nature sounds and spoken words. Vocals and acoustic guitar follow. The wind is blowing as the bass joins in. "Timeless Moments In Sherwood" is led by synths and drums early. Guitar 2 minutes in then it backs off. "The Lathe Of Heaven" is laid back with the focus on the vocals and message. There is an instrumental break though then the vocals return. "Afterglow" is the best track of course. Well that's because it's a GENESIS cover. They do a great job by the way.

So a good album and a solid 3 stars.