TRAILS OF AMBERGRIS

The Yleclipse--formerly Eclisse--started in 1998 and still boast the founding four member lineup. They list their main influences as medieval music, classic rock, and Celtish music (particularly Irish and Scottish). The band states that they continually push boundaries of their own music, trying to incorporate new ideas that they discover in their musical research. (This information from the band's website.) The result is an eclectic mix of old and new, of experiment and accessibility.

I have to agree with Tarcisio's review--this is a wonderful modern Italian album that often hearkens back to the 70's heyday. The bands first three albums are squarely in the neo-prog category, and while this album is more varied and interesting than the others they have not completely shed the neo-prog tendencies. Rather, they have combined the strengths of neo- with some of the appealing characteristics of RPI. For example on this album more than their previous ones, the compositions are varied, at times complex, always melodic. In fact a strong sense of melody, along with great interplay between guitar and keyboards are the strengths of this album. My favorite track is "Arcontes Merees Karaleos," which is an instrumental featuring layers of acoustic guitars augmented by keyboards, bass, and drums, and is probably the song most reminiscent of the RPI heyday.

Like Tarcisio, I feel that the biggest weakness is the production. However, I don't worry too much about that when the music is great! The vocals are so-so and are in English, which also lessens the impact, but again can be overlooked because of the great music.

This is a great effort, a wonderful example of modern sounds with hints of RPI. Three and a half stars, rounded down to three.

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