FROM THE SMALL HOURS OF WEAKNESS

The opening song, '10.000 Roses', starts with electronic beats and samples, which reminded me of Radiohead's Kid A album. The line '10,000 roses in my head' is sung (or rather whispered) repeatedly until the song turns aggressive and heavy. With hard riffing, this is exactly the type of music you'd headbang to. The song continues in this fashion, with the '10,000 roses in my head' line coming back, until the track quiets down to finish. Great opening track.

'Desire' starts with a beautiful piano and guitar duet. The lyrics in this track are dark and sorrowful, mirroring the music. This song reminded me a bit of Symphony X's V album. The track turns heavy, and continues, still sounding dark, through an instrumental part and to the end of the song.

'Erebus' is a 50 second saxophone solo, which sounds soulful and melancholic, continuing the mood of the previous track.

A low piano ostinato opens 'Dance of the Dead', which is interspersed throughout the rest of the short song (only 2 minutes and 51 seconds long). There's some nice mellotron-ing (I know that's not a word, but I'm using it) in this track too.

'The Losing Game' has a piano and bass driven verse, especially in the verse which follows the beautifully melodic chorus. The second half of the song is dominated by an instrumental section, in which the guitarist performs a nice, Santana-sounding solo, and the saxophone does a solo too. The inclusion of the sax in this song makes for a truly special experience.

'Disintegration' is in my opinion the weakest track on the album (apart from perhaps the closing song), although it's not bad at all. It's probably the song that you can appreciate the quickest, thanks to the heavy riffs (reminiscient of '10.000 Roses').

The 38 second reprise of 'Dance of the Dead' brings back the piano melody that opened the original track.

'Sudden Winter' is perhaps the most 'ballad-ish' song on the album. The melancholic piano and singing that starts the track is similar to the beginning of 'Desire'. The gorgeous melodies in this track make it a highlight of the whole album. At one point, the music sounds very similar to Pink Floyd. There's a nice trumpet solo in this song too.

'Aeons (Parts 1 & 2)' begins with a sort of evil sounding piano melody, and the track gradually gets heavier. It eventually turns into a long, instrumental (there's singing right at the start though) song. It's good, but is a bit boring at times.

This is a great prog metal album with some fantastic songs. Make sure to have a listen to it if you're a fan of atmospheric prog metal. And well done to Verbal Delirium, for creating such a good album!

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