OPUS

This is the third album by the Italian four piece band with the weird name The Yleclipse. The sound on the eight compositions (between four and ten minutes) is tasteful and melodic with hints from early Marillion. Some examples of their music: a fluent tempo, tasteful keyboard flights and sensitive guitar in A Crown Of Gold, Floydian slide guitar in Reality Show, a folky sound in Sailing To Caralis and Carol (nice flute and acoustic guitar), alternating in Glorious (from bombastic with fiery guitar to dreamy with flute and soft piano chords) and compelling with howling guitar in The Tale Of The Black-cloak. Don't expect very elaborate songs and adventurous prog, just enjoy the pleasant neo-prog from this fine new Italian formation.

The previous album from this band left me as cold as ice: basic neo-prog, period. I just hoped that this one would be superior.

The filiation with "Genesis" is still obvious (there are several Hackett-like solo) but the music sounds more mature. It is good to see that the band was moved from RPI to neo...

Vocals somehow reminds of "Marillion" Mark I (the only one as far as I'm concerned). Just listen to the good opening "A Crown Of Gold" to get this confirmed. But this is only the first of a list.

This album is stronger than "Prime Substance" for sure. Compositions are harmonious and guitar work is very powerful and emotional. English vocals are good although somewhat theatrical and willing to remind some other "voices" from the past during the excellent "Reality Show".

Some lighter and acoustic parts are also available: another short Hackett touch but nice to break the mood ("Sailing To Caralis", or the medieval but symphonic "Carol").

This band fits perfectly the neo-prog genre like their country men "The Watch" (whom I prefer). Melodic and crafted that's a given fact, but the phantom of the masters is really catching up later in this "Opus" (title track as well as "Glorious"). These musicians are gifted (but after all, this is normal to expect) and the writing skills on this work is pretty decent too.

The most "Genesis" sounding track is the fine "Tale Of The Black Cloak". One of the longest available and also another one to feature brilliant guitar lines (one of their strong points by all means). Some Banks influence is immediately noticeable as the song starts as well. This track holds a lot of different moods and textures: it is the most sophisticated from this "Opus" and the most achieved; even if not too personal.

If you like the early "Marillion" and the late middle seventies "Genesis", this album is definitely an interesting one for your ears. If you are too much of a purist, you could avoid it. I rate it as a good album. Three stars.

Yleclipse from Italy is a progressive rock band for whom I have a soft spot, there is something in their music that I like very much, and is one of the most sincere and honest bands I've ever heared from this genre. Opus is their third album from 2005 issued at Mals-Mellow records label and is a total winner for me. Long pieces, complex, well composed with rich arrangements, great guitars and excellent keyboards, similar with Marillion most of the time, but they have their own twist for sure. I like aswell the voice of Alessio Guerriero, he fits perfectly in the mood of the album. Neo prog is what they play with some symphonic touches here and there, some parts remind me of Hackett, Genesis. Yje music offered by Yleclipse have complex structurated pieces with plenty of great moments, quite more complex then most of the bands from this genre, they have some fantastic ideas very well presented, the instrumental passages are top notch most of the time. Some great moments are on opening track A crown of gold, the intro from Glorious is keiller with some fantastic guitar-keybords parts, The tale of the black cloak is another highlight, from mellow to more dynamic sections Yleclipse done a good job on this album, flute, piano and other ingredients to make it big in this filed. Opus is a perfect ecxample of greatness in this genre. 4 stars for this one, nice cover art aswell.

3.5, really. This is my second experience with this italian band. And Opus is quite different from their next release, Trails From Ambergris. This one shows the band still emulating a lot of early Marillion (something they would eventually shed away). So in the end is an interesting mix of 80`s neo prog (yes, with all that Genesis connection) with italian synphonic prog of the 70´s. The results are very intresting and kind of unusual. The only other italian band which plays something similar is The Watch. and, with apologies to ZowieZiggy, that group sounds to me too much like a Genesis copycat without the beautiful melodies of the original. Yleclipse may not be much of an original group, but they do have fine tunes to go along with their obvious fine musicanship (and influences!).

I have the impression the production here is actually a little better than On Trails From Anbergris, even if they still lack a modern, clean sound more suited for their elegant style. Ok, nothing that spoils the end result. It would be also better if they sing in italian instead of english, but again their choice of language does not harm the songs. And I really love the guitar/keyboards interplay, the melodic lines, the tasteful arrangements and the passionate vocals. The electric parts are definitly more on the neo prog style while the acoustic ones are leaning more towards the italian prog school. Highlight on this album is surely the longest track the Tale Of The Black Cloak, with its several mood and tempo swings. Fortunatly the rest of the CD is not too far behind. There are no fillers.

So in the end it was a bit hard to rate this album. it is very, very good indeed. I have no shame to say I love the early Marillion style to the core, as long as it is well done. And this band does it good indeed. Nothing to write home about it (unless, again, if you´re a fan of Fish´s former band), but very good at what they do. The inclusion of the italian prog influences give their sound here a distinctive flavour that makes them different from a pletora of early Marillion clones. Still, I feel I can´t give Opus the personal 4 star rating I´d like to. I think 3,5 stars is more fitting. Recommended to anyone who likes neo prog or good melodic prog in general.

I was quite taken with Yleclipse's latest album, Songs From the Crackling Atanor, which I found a rare example of a Genesis soundalike band really nailing the distinctively romantic medieval atmosphere of Trespass. However, on Opus they were still honing their skills, and whilst they were able to put together a decent Genesis-mimicing sound at the same time it still doesn't quite feel satisfying - the atmosphere's a little off, the songwriting is a little obvious, and it doesn't quite have the spark that Yleclipse would eventually invest their music with. Definitely check out the group's later albums before passing judgement on them, because despite the title, this ain't their magnum opus.