HYPERLIVE

Hyper-prog

In April 2015, Netherlands based Knight Area played live in Katowice Poland, supporting the excellent Arena. Their performance was captured by Metal Mind Productions, who in recent years have set the standard for DVD releases of this type.

'Hyperlive' finds the band performing their 2014 album 'Hyperdrive' in its entirety, with the exception of the track 'This day'. It may perhaps be that the song was included in the performance, but dropped due to time constraints. The band's focus throughout is on ensuring a tight rendition of the album, focusing on the strong melodies that prevail in the original recording. It appears that lead vocalist Mark Smit is the only singer in the band, thus the fine harmony vocals appear to also be by Smit and either mixed in from tape live or added in the post edit. While this certainly embellishes the live performance, it does raise the old chestnut about how 'live' a live set should be.

Regardless of that, this is a fine presentation which offers a great first sight for many of us of a first rate prog band. Musically, there are hints of Marillion and Pendragon among others, but there is at the same time a refreshing originality to the band's music. Smit's voice is particularly appealing, and fits the style of music well. There are plenty of extended keyboards and guitar breaks from Gerben Klazinga and Mark Bogert respectively.

The set is rounded off by a fine 16 minute medley of tracks from all the band's previous albums to date plus a 10 minute rendition of 'Mortal Blow' from 'The sun also rises'. A lot of thought has been put into the medley, which takes in extracts from eight different songs, but sounds like a complete work in its own right.

The DVD is completed by the usual interviews (in English), photographic and text based extras and accompanied by a CD containing the entire live performance. The digipak sleeve is well presented, with some fine artwork. Overall, a highly enjoyable experience that will hopefully open up the band to a wider audience.

Dutch band KNIGHT AREA was formed in 2004, shortly after its founder Gerben Klazinga released the album "The Sun Also Rises" using the Knight Area moniker. Since then the band has released new albums at a steady pace, with 5 full-length studio recorodings to their name so far. The live CD/DVD "Hyperlive" is their most recent production, released by the Polish label Metal Mind in 2015.

As this is Knight Area's first live DVD, fans of the band in general and those who treasure their 2014 album "Hyperdrive" in particular come across as the main audience for this live production. And while I wouldn't advise those who want to become more familiar with the band in itself to opt for this release as a good introduction, those who generally are intrigued by bands that mix their neo progressive rock with hard rock and progressive metal might find this set of live CD and DVD to merit a check.