CORVUS STONE

'Corvus Stone'. Wow. What a difficult album to review. Not only because of its sheer length (1 hour and 20 minutes), but because it can't really be labeled in any genre. Is it prog? Yes. Is it jazz? Yes. Pop? Check. Rock? Check. Blues? Also check.

While there isn't really a sense of continuity or a concept usually found on prog albums, one must ask oneself: Does it really matter? The music is flawless, cleverly arranged and marvelously executed. Is it all over the place? Perhaps, but that's the beauty of Corvus Stone: It is so eclectic that it can please even the toughest crowds.

I've been a hardcore Bunchakeze fan since its release in early 2011, and Colin Tench is a hard guy to keep up with: 5 known bands, and many others we may have never heard of. That's a lot of music to listen to, and when I first heard of the release of a new album from a whole new band, I just HAD to get it.

There seems to be some sort of obscure alchemy surrounding these guys. First, what impressed me is how LITTLE time they needed to make an 80 minutes album. And second, how can so much stuff be going on at the same time? But somehow they pull it off. Pasi Koivu's eclectic keyboards seem to compliment Petri Lindström's high-octane bass playing, and Colin Tench's sometimes furious, sometimes mellow guitar just perfectly.

Robert Wolff on drums and Blake Carpenter (you may remember him from Minstrel's Ghost) step up and put the icing on a very ambitious cake.

Must-be-listened tracks: 'Highway to Emptiness', 'Ice King', 'Corvus Stone', 'Pilgrim's, 'Iron Pillows', and of course, Corvus Stone's showstopper: 'Cinema'

Corvus Stone is definitely a band to keep an eye on. God knows what is next in their future, but one can only be sure that it is going to have a lot (and I mean A LOT) of Music.