MORNINGDOM

Another off-shoot of a Greek psychedelic progressive pioneer The 4 Levels Of Existence, I've assumed. A Greek project LEAVING TOMORROW were founded by the frontman / guitarist Alex DOUTSIS in early 2000s, and it's quite natural and obvious they have been inspired by some Greek progressive vanguards in addition to authentic progressive rock or other genres like classical, jazz, metal, or something. Their lineup has been pretty simple as a rock unit, only with guitar, bass, and drums. And such a simplicity can be seen in the formation of The 4 Levels Of Existence (twin guitars, bass, and drums / percussion) too. When I listened to their album "Morningdom" for the first time, this creation reminded me of the positive similarity to the Greek seniors in the mid 1970s. We can easily guess that the musical memory would be followed continuously like ancient Greek wine Retsina or Kokkineli (anyway I love Xinomavro in Naoussa, just an offtopic). Contrary to such acceptable melody lines of the vanguard, the soundscape of LEAVING TOMORROW is a bit complicated and interesting.

The opening of "Infinite Land" immediately makes us feel promising. Although their instrumental technique is not so great, their serious and sincere attitude for production and music itself can be heard throughout. The first movement of "Infinite Land" has definitely crazy oriental flavour especially via Alex's guitar performances (very good indeed). In the following part we can enjoy their bluesy feeling, awkward but humane percussion, and slightly cheesy vocals. We could get a mysterious impression via their rough play, let me say. Actually the interlude between two large-scaled suites "What We've Got", full of their deep, heavy sound texture and eccentric melodic appearances, is cool and fantastic. In fact, every single track should be in the similar vein to others under their simple formation on playing. And basically Alex's guitar shout sounds too bluesy and reflective to launch delightful melody lines. In this sense, let me say that the epilogue "Wide Open Spaces" or "What We've Got" should be their masterpiece.

In conclusion, their musical strategy is well understood, but either a rigid polarity or diverse playing style should be needed for them in future. Looking forward to their upcoming creation.