CROSSROAD

Awesome. That's the first word I would like to address to this new Russian discovery. Boy, Am I glad I decided to buy this just because I heard this was supposed to be great. I remember I didn't really have time to listen to it in the store. I was actually very glad I found it because rare prog isn't everywhere around in the Netherlands. And this is the bands debut so they hadn't really made a reputation for themselves yet. So I bought it, listened a few times and it didn't matter what my mood was, you can play this any time, it just gets you in a good mood.

What's it like ? Well it's real neo prog with a touch of symphonic. The vocalist has a slightly mellow voice but absolutely not in an annoying way, it sounds really pleasant. The compositions are simply fantastic. These guys know how to write songs, perfect balance between vocals and all the instruments. It's all very melodic and that's the most important to me. (I suddenly realize there are a few songs with religious lyrics. Not hugely significant maybe but I didn't notice at first.)

This album contains at least 6 (!) terrific songs but the one that really stands out from those is Sunrise, an unbelievable superb track, that is really neo prog at its best to me. Super melodic with great guitar parts and an incredible brilliant composition. The other jewel is Final which is a grand finale a masterpiece deserves. Also Nothing comes everything, Escape and Crossroad are awesome songs. Well if that isn't enough for 5 stars I give up. Looking forward to the successor !