IMPRESSION

I purchased this a while ago, enthralled ever since but refused to review it until there would be some sign of interest from my fellow colleagues at PA. Well Tarcisio and Henk obliged on the same day, today! I keep repeating myself like a stuck tape loop, but those Dutch sure are a crafty lot, certainly the most consistent progressive nation in recent years, what with Like Wendy, Trion, Flamborough Head, Sinister Street, Mangrove, Triangle, Orpheo, Ayreon, Knight Area, Novox , The Gathering, Ice, Nice Beaver and Lady Lake!!! They seemingly possess some kind of inbred affinity for all things progressive (socially, culturally and artistically), a fond desire to stretch beyond the boundaries of platitudes (they have no mountains after all!) and boldly go beyond the polders, the windmills and the dykes. Odyssice is a tremendous all instrumental combo that overtly espouses the glittering emotional Prog tradition, with reverential nods to stalwarts such as Camel, Hackett & fellow cloggers Focus. Guitarist Bastiaan Peeters is no Satriani, Vai or Malmsteen, reverentially adhering to the Frippian coda that one meaningful note means more than a blistering scale of pyrotechnics. Hence, one can clearly detect the influences in his playing, close to Latimer in terms of feeling, with Hackett's slippery repressed guitar tone and a dash of Akkerman's fiery gusto. The opener "Scream" is precisely descriptive of this formula, with a rollercoaster delivery that highlights the languid and the raging, Bastiaan's squealing and urgent playing sending shivers down the dorsal vertebrae, ably abetted by some fine keyboard work from Jeroen Van Der Wiel and a chunkily solid rhythm section. The other major highlight is the equally explosive (and strongly reminiscent in structure to Hackett's Spectral Mornings track) final track, "A Prophet's Dream", a true prog instrumental monument that deserves Olympic stadium praise. The remaining tracks are top-notch stuff, with the previously described "ethnic" tinge, such as the equatorially exotic "Senran", the Saracen-templar mysticism of "Crusader", the Greek mythological "Olympus" and the top of the world "Anuradhapura". The musicians introduce aromas from around the globe, in the fine Dutch spirit of its historical maritime merchants, without condescending or plagiarizing anyone. "Lokapalas", the title track and "Legend" are interesting musical paragraphs in a memorable musical book that starts and ends with impressive bangs. As previously expressed by other PA "confreres", this is an absolute winner that deserves a place on your prog menu. 5 dutch camels