FACING THE SUNSET

Mangrove is a Dutch (neo) progressive rock group that was quite active during the 2004-2011 period. I've heard that in 2020 they've reformed with a new drummer. One night in 2005 I went to a gig with my brother and saw Mangrove and Knight Area (just before releasing their second album) on a single night. Quite an evening I remember. 'Facing the Sunset' is by far Mangrove's best release. On this concept album with four ten-minute plus tracks the band explores all facets of symphonic prog, reminding me of the instrumental prowess of Finch, Genesis and IQ. Lead guitarist and vocalist Roland van der Horst isn't blessed with one of the best voices of the genre, but on the less demanding tracks he's an inspired performer. The darker and slower 'I Fear the Day' is perhaps the best song. His guitar playing reminds me of Andy Latimer and Martin Holmes. The fully instrumental and heavier 'There Must Be Another Way' will please most listeners; here the band really seems 'on fire', which becomes imminent from the very first piano parts. The fine thing about this album is that all parts are explored without hastily firing one thing after another. Furthermore, all compositions come with a sense of dramatic purpose, whereas I sometimes feel that some modern bands just sum up their ideas. Chris Jonker has a nice pallet of synths and organs and his keyboard parts aren't too derivative - yet a good example for the genre. I guess this the type of second league album that got lost in the progressive boom at the start of the century. It deserves to be rediscovered and re-evaluated now.