AFTER THE SILENCE - A SYMPHONIC POEM

The aftermath of ''Journey to the vast unknown'' was so strong a few thousand copies were additionally pressed to fullfill the needs of the requesting market.Towards a second album the duo of Rene de Haan and Bob de Jong worked in a more professional way.Guest musicians were recruited so the project could sound like a normal band, among them a young Arjen Anthony Lucassen on guitars and bass pedals and Plackband's keyboardist Michel van Wassem on Novotron (a variation of the Mellotron).Also Nick Blaser paricipated on violin, Martin Knaap on bass and Carolien Krul on flute.''After the silence'' was recorded between September and December 1981, released in 1982 and distributed by WEA in a clear move towards a better selling result.

The new Pythagoras album was split in seven movements, the first three capturing the first side of the LP.Unlike the expectations the production remains quite muddy, typical of an underground than a professional album, and the music is grounded in the field of Electronic Prog with obvious tendencies towards more symphonic textures.De Haan's spacey synthesizers are still the driving and undoubtful force, but the strong use of dual keyboard soundscapes like the Mellotron/synth combination and the intelligent use of downtempo guitars now remind a lot of PINK FLOYD or even compatriots FOCUS with a bit of KING CRIMSON in the more orchestral passages.The second side is more balanced and propably slightly better than the first.The fourth movement is a grandiose Electronic Prog opus, like the synths of KLAUS SCHULZE meet the ethereal Mellotron of TONY BANKS, while the fifth is characterized by the mournful opening violin work of Blaser, followed by an intense Orchestral Prog with guitars, keyboards and bass in the forefront, before the powerful, cinematic outro covers it all with de Haan's unbelievable work on Mellotron and synthesizers.The short sixth part is highlighted by Lucassen's melodic CAMEL-esque solo, giving birth to the peak of the album, the 6-min. long ''Grand finale''.Excellent balance between keyboards and guitars follow the flute-driven intro in a depressing movement, also including pessimistic violin tunes, but the result is absolutely wonderful.

To call this better than Pythagoras' debut is propably excessive, sure thing is ''After the silence'' is certainly a nice little pearl of Electronic/Symphonic Rock with an old-fasioned, irritating style.Warmly recommended.