LITMUS

The biggest complaint is how much they sound like HAWKWIND, especially the tunes that "rock". The followup "Planetfall" was a disappointment, with Matt leaving and Andy's mellotron being buried in the mix. "Aurora" their third from 2009 is an improvement over "Planetfall" but just falls short of that fourth star. And again the reason for that is the HAWKWIND worship.

Over half of this 65 1/2 minute album sounds like energetic HAWKWIND but there's also so much good stuff on here. Andy left after "Planetfall" but even he says "Aurora" is a better album than "Planetfall". Highlights are the over 5 minute "Eos" where we get a spacey soundscape that builds and swells and how about the mellotron. "Kings Of Infinite Space" at 8 1/2 minutes is my favourite. A slow build as vocals join in. Just a nice heavy sound eventually.

"Ma:55on Rift" is my final top three and this is trippy and spacey and t doesn't start to move until after 3 minutes as the drums arrive, bass too. Love the depth here before 5 minutes. Some ripping guitar 7 minutes in and mellotron late. The one HAWKWIND-like tune I really like is "Stars" and it's the shortest at 4 minutes. An intense track.

I'm pretty happy to have their debut but this is the next best thing.

There's two brothers on here namely Andy and Matt Thompson who many will know. Matt from GUAPO, ZOLTAN and other bands while Andy is the man behind the Planetmellotron web-site. And yes Andy plays mellotron on here along with hammond, mini-moog, moog taurus and more. Matt is responsible for the gong which sounds amazing to start "(Theta Wave) Inductor" as well as using an audio generator. The guitarist and multi-instrumentalist on here also use that device. A six piece with a drummer and bass player who adds other instruments as well.

Released in 2004 this one rocks pretty hard but my favourite song is that ballad-like title track in the HAWKWIND style of course. Acoustic guitar, vocals and mellotron stand out and hey birds chirping to end it, so Prog. Some experimental stuff and soundscape music on this album as well but man these guys let it explode in a big way with the guitar ripping it up, upfront bass and really good drum work. Then of course all the synths, audio generators, mellotron and the like adding a ton of atmosphere.

So impressed with this one and maybe it's in part because it took me so long to track down a copy as it has only had the original pressing with no re-issues. My appreciation for Andy just went higher after actually hearing him as a musician. I'm also very thankful for all the great information on mellotron albums I've had the pleasure to read on his site over the years. A very solid 4 stars.

They lay brilliant extremity as above upon the audience via the first track "Beyond The Sun" with their intelligible explanation for space rock. Suppose they may have a strong intention to make us (both of the band and the audience) enjoy sincerely, not to throw us into addiction. Even some rhythmic irregularities glimpsed in the following one "In The Burning Light" sound not like they show progression of space rock but simply like they like to grab the audience's heart out. No difficulty around their rock music needed.

Anyway, there is such a relaxation of moonshine like "Eos", with slow attacks of para-melodic sound conjugations. Martin's heavy bass traction is awesome indeed. Oli's keyboard (or mellotron?) does excellently lyrical works in "Stars" ... featuring mysterious multi- dimensional sound chasers (and we cannot feel irritated over these unreal phrases). Their rigid sound attitude and assertion for notifying us of their melodious rock ritual cannot be altered even in the most theatrical creation "Ma:55oN", delightful rhythm convolution constructed with simple heavy beat avalanche.

Can mention they play not originality or innovation but contemporary space rock inspired by HAWKWIND with their interpretation for intimate rock music. Easy to listen, it's not bad actually.

A strong enough album to earn three stars anyway. It has somehow managed to be a favourite of mine when driving my car through the evening or night so I reward it even four stars. It also sports a nice sleeve cover.

Best tracks would be "Kings Of Infinte Space" and "Red Skies".

Of course the orginality of the compositions has to be questioned but the execution is excellent. These guys know how to play . Andy Thompson (of the Planetmellotron website) features on mellotron and synths although I understand he has now left the band.

Marks are lost for lack of orginality but sound quality and playing is a high standard.

Worthwhile addition to any prog collection.

3.5 stars.

Significant bubbling synths are accompanying you through the whole album though. And the band also endeavours to give some variety with folksy acoustic guitar parts and lots of hammond, mellotron and moog additions. Every member (except drummer Marek) is contributing some electronical elements.

The title song You Are Here marks a little change to another mood leaving the heavy rocking path with acoustic guitars and birds twittering. And some songs with a spacey ambient touch are following like There and Chime for example. The long and dramatic Stone Oscillator is mellotron and hammond infected but also full of stoner riffs near to BLACK SABBATH. A very gripping hypnotic song, not exactly a standard of the genre but definitely my highlight.

This album reflects a Hawkwind adapted sound - not one of my favourite albums of the genre but a good solid production anyhow. For space rock fans with comfortable feeling in the heavy territory this is a good find - 3.5 stars

This is very poppy shallow space-rock (or modern rock as it would seem to me) and it goes on for far too long. One of the things that annoyed me most was the random synth sound effects - they are relentless for the entire album and they get old really fast, when they first started I thought they were pretty good and then the second song came in and they started back up again and I was slightly perturbed, by the third song I was already annoyed so you can imagine how I was feeling by the end of the album. I never really got a progressive vibe or detected much progressiveness in the music either which is odd considering how there are 2 epics on the album, I'd listen to it again to pay closer attention by I'm really not sure I want to.

Stay away from this one folks you're better off sticking with HAWKWIND.

The highlight for me is the song "Expanding Universe". This is the song where you can actually hear the mellotron to open with some great sounding guitar which has a lower sounding tone. Even the vocals seem better on this track. It shifts up a gear after 3 minutes to a nice and heavy sound. Check out the guitar 12 1/2 minutes in. Nice.

I'm sure HAWKWIND fans will eat this up, and it is a good record, but compared to THE FIRST BAND FROM OUTERSPACE and other psychedelic bands (too many to mention) this was a let down.