MORNING LIGHTS

Although the name of this Israeli trio might rather suggest resemblance with Genesis, much better references would be organ-heavy 70's bands such as ELP, Trace and Ekseption. Anyway, indeed Trespass has a very 70's-like retro sound. Their debut In Haze of Time (2002) is bold, fusion-approaching symphonic prog with plenty of soloing especially for keyboards. The multi-instrumental frontman and the main composer Gil Stein is pretty mediocre as a vocalist, but that's not a big minus because the energetic playing dominates the music.

Morning Lights is the band's second and final album, and undoubtedly an improvement over the debut. Jazz/fusion flavour is mostly gone, instead there are some delightful Baroque elements due to the addition of recorders and harpsichord to the sonic pallette. The 48-minute album contains three tracks of average length and two longer pieces. The epic title track (21:33) is fast-paced and quite impressive magnum opus loaded with mighty soloing for organ above all. Again the vocals are less enjoyable but not very central in the whole. 'Ripples' (12:17) starts with a harpsichord and soon the organ takes the leading role. Such a fantastic drive in this instrumentally oriented composition, and yet it doesn't get too self-indulgent in the Emersonian style. As mentioed in a previous review, rhythmically there's an occasional resemblance to the Genesis classic 'Watcher of the Skies'.

The closing instrumental piece 'Forest Bird's Fantasy' contains some birdsong effects and quite a lot of high-pitched flute or recorder. These elements get slightly irritating to my ears, but otherwise it's a powerful piece of full-blown, classically inspired symphonic prog. Trespass is well worth checking out for the listeners of organ-heavy symphonic prog in the vintage 70's style.