NUCLEUS

And it's also a confirmation that this band is more of a King Crimson wannabe because they were able to develop and expand their sound in rather hoarse way, but equally interesting.

The album opens with the title track, with a rather aggressive and noisy mellotron, creating an exciting contrast with the more mellow and melodic first record. In the brutal chorus we can also hear that the main singer has also improved his singing, while we enjoy the piercing bass and the fast guitar melodies.

Harvest regain a Little the King Crimson's style at the beginning, but soon turns into a rabid punk tune with playful guitars. After that we are delighted with some cello melodies and a great and obscure final section, very prog.

Book of Hours starts with a slow and repetitive Melody with a persistent mellotron which is broken by dissonant guitars which lead to another marvelous Vemod-style tune followed by Raft, a Little dissonant instrumental song.

Rubankh is another instrumental song but much more hard and aggressive. I think this track is a good summary of that Anekdoten were trying to achieve with this album, developing a very distinctive and personal sound. This makes the album less accessible and rather difficult to appreciate at the first listening, but catchy and enchanting through repeated plays.

This Far From the Sky has a very fierce beginning with an interlude which brings automatically Vemod to mind with the typical interlaced mellotron, cello and psychedelia. The instrumental part is maybe the most intricated and psychedelic of the whole album.

In Freedom closes the album in a very beautiful and mellow way, with incredible strings melodies. Pure talent.

Conclusion: Nucleus was strong step forward in the right direction. The compositions are maybe not so catchy and resounding like in the marvelous opera prima Vemod, but the band achieved a more personal and distinctive sound, making this album even more valuable than the previous one in my opinion while almost maintaining the same quality in the melodies and structures of the songs.

The King Crimson tribute band is gone. Welcome Anekdoten!

Best Tracks: Nucleus, Book of Hours, This Far From the Sky, In Freedom.

My rating: ****

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