PALLAS (SNOWDONIA)

This Spanish group presents an album of warm retro symphonic prog with neo and folk accents. Apart from the variety of keyboards including prominent Hammond played by Gonzalo Sanz, the main feature is M. José Millon delightful voice which is equally expressive in Spanish and English, as demonstrated by "Silencio" and "The Grave & Stern Decorum" respectively. The melodies are simple and effective, carried higher by the abovementioned contributors and some nice fat lead and rhythm guitar by Daniel Galera, which verges on pyschedelic more than once, but always harmoniously.

"Bleak December Part 1", is sung in Spanish by Millon with a middle section sung in English by Galera, and features beautiful organ sometimes played in an almost circus style, giving way to a brief cacophony of guitars before mellowing out again. Yes this is a mellow album. The instrumental Part 2 is jazzier, with pleasant electric piano, and lots of fun to listen to. Snowdonia knows how to vary the pace without compromising their position. "Lenore" is an acoustic guitar driven ballad with a well-placed flute break.

While comparisons to various classic bands are inevitable, the group really defines its own style, with echoes of the past. The closer, "A Demon That's Dreaming", is especially intriguing because of the wordless vocals above the exuberant old style guitars. I thought of Renaissance's Prologue briefly, but heavier. Snowdonia has a gentleness even when it rocks out, and it makes for an enjoyable if not earth-shattering listen. I would have wished them a longer life.

First band that comes to mind when I listen to this charming release by Spanish Snowdonia is Brazilian Bacamarte with their highly awarded gem Depois do Fim. And that is due to two reasons. The resembling female vocals and the equal way they handle the instruments: fast !

But where Bacamarte created a winner (second favorite for our raters of the entire 80's decade) Snowdonia somehow has to settle for far less. I'm only the second reviewer and third rater so far and that's beyond fairness I feel. This is a very pleasant and high quality piece of music that is only partly in the justified place here in the neo progressive subgenre. It could just as easily have been in the prog folk section though just a part of the songs is sung in the native language. That's pretty remarkable come to think of it because most bands sing in one and the same language.

Anyway, what I try to say here is that Snowdonia deserves much more attention than they got so far. If you like this idea of a blend of neo prog and prog folk: check it out. It's really recommended and fans of the mentioned Bacamarte could certainly give this a try. Three stars (3,3).