THE PORTRAIT OF A BOY

HORIZONT's "The Portrait Of A Boy" is an amazing fusion of avantgarde and symphonic arrangements, while I didn't expect much after listening their debut which I found too common and cheesy, this one is refreshing and overwhelming. If the debut album had more of the ELP mood, then you could say this one is more of "Inferno" feeling by KEITH EMERSON and some KING CRIMSON in the mix, especially in the title track where I find the guitars most dominating as with great sound of modern synths and other weird electronic experimentation. It is dark at times and I did think of EMERSON's "Inferno" because of the feeling of horror soundtrack, but this is in no way background music, and as the album progresses, songs do get lighter in mood with more classical feeling; the finishing track "Vocalise" being very much in the grand feeling of YES circa "Close To The Edge". Recommended to people who might be bored of classical symphonic rock and are looking for something with a darker edge.