GREY WHITE SILVER YELLOW & GOLD

After the excellent "The Fold", Karcius have needed four years to offer us the long-awaited continuation!

And fortunately, this great Canadian group has managed to follow in the footsteps of "The Fold" but increasing the intensity, giving us their heaviest album to date, but without giving up their jazz influences and their usual skill in each and every one of the instruments.

A special mention also goes to Sylvain Auclair's voices, which sound more integrated and powerful than ever. Just listen to Supernova! Absolutely spectacular.

So, if you haven't discovered Karcius yet, this excellent "Grey White Silver Yellow and Gold" is a perfect place to start getting to know them.

Best Tracks: the album has a fairly homogeneous quality, but if I have to choose, I would pick Supernova (one of the most epic choruses of recent years), The Ladder (spectacular instrumental section, with a bass solo included, and wonderful guitars) and A Needle Tree (the song starts bringing back de melody of Goodbye, one of the best songs of their previous work "The Fold", and after that it develops in the most atmospheric and obscure track of the album)

My Rating: ****

Since the release of the album "The Fold", the band has changed their Jazz Fusion style to a much heavier style. This new album continues in that direction. The opener "Parasite" is full of anger with a heavy atmosphere not only coming from the guitar but also from the voice of Sylvain Auclair. "Supernova" starts in acoustic mode and the intensity grows up as the song progresses in a typical heavy rock fashion. "The Ladder" is the highlight song with many twists and turns, complex time signatures, and some Pink Floyd influence. The song goes back and forth between acoustic and electric. There are some impressive drums parts and cool sounds throughout the song including some groovy bass lines and what I think could be some mellotron parts in the middle and at the end. "Cosmic Rage" is another take on Pink Floyd with a Gilmore guitar-style passage. The drums again are shining with a song that t goes into some complex patterns as the song goes. The last song the epic "Needle Tree" starts in an ambient atmosphere with their first intrusion into their Jazz root. Then it switches off to an Opeth-style groove before returning to a Jazz section and ending in a rare peaceful moment. This is another strong album from Karcius that should give them a boost to present a great show this year I hope.

An interesting foray into Heavy Prog from these former jazz-rockers from Québec.

1. "Parasite" (6:06) could be any heavy metal band from the 1980s--especially with that overly familiar lead vocalist. (7.75/10)

2. "Supernova" (5:58) taking the band into a more delicate palette of instrumental sounds really works for these guys; it's awesome to hear the piano, acoustic guitars, and more delicate side of Sylvian's voice. A top three song for me. (8.75/10)

3. "The Ladder" (13:46) solid heavy rock with an interesting construction. (24.5/30)

4. "Cosmic Rage" (7:05) starting from the softer, more spacious side works better for this band. Still so familiar--so much like the many "hair metal" bands I'd heard in the 1980s and 90s. (12/15)

5. "Distance Kills" (8:03) interesting Peter Gabriel Passion-like opening leads into a more smooth, easier to engage with full bloom. A top three song for me. (13/15)

6. "A Needle Tree" (15:23) once it gets going (1/3 of the way into it) it sounds like classic heavier BIG BIG TRAIN, MAD CRAYON's Preda, MYRATH, and PINK FLOYD. If this song hadn't taken so long to get started, I would have called this the best song on the album. Great finish with a very engaging and memorable ear worm of a chorus on repeat to the end. (26.5/30)

Total Time 56:21

B-/3.5 stars; a good if inconsistent and sometimes monotonous collection of heavy prog from some very competent musicians. Rated up for production and polished performances (especially that awesome drummer!)