DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON

Granted that I've never heard of Phideaux before Doomsday Afternoon started to receive some of the most extraordinary praise here on Prog Archives I decided to find out what this new talk of the town (or talk of the community) was all about.

The first time I listened through the entire album I honestly didn't hear anything spectacular and that opinion remained with me throughout all of the consecutive revisits. There isn't anything particularly wrong with the music here, in fact I would even say that it's quite pleasant. The melodies are great and the laid back approach is very appealing from a non-progressive rock stand point. Oh wait, wasn't this suppose to be progressive? I knew that I was missing something here!

Phideaux might have impressed the online progressive rock communities but this music has yet to make its mark on me. My biggest concern with Phideaux's music on Doomsday Afternoon is that there is hardly any progressive rock in it. The band managed to create appealing soundscapes that will definitely make the old school progressive-fans happy since the music reminds them of a light version of Pink Floyd. Personally I doubt that even Pink Floyd would have preferred to play this type of music for more than 40 years without evolving. Where is the progress in this so called progressive material?

After this critique I still hesitate to give any of the tracks a low rating since, as I mentioned, most of the melodies are really catchy and there is an overall theme. Although I can't help but feel that Phideaux is playing it safe 100% of the time. I am still waiting for a single passage to really impress by grabbing me on an emotional level.

The new release Number Seven has received some extraordinary praise but I will probably skip it because cozy and safe progressive rock seizes to be progressive.

**** star songs: Micro Softdeathstar (11:17) The Doctrine Of Eternal Ice (Part One) (3:01) Crumble (2:55) The Doctrine Of Eternal Ice (Part Two) (8:08) A Wasteland Of Memories (2:22) Crumble (2:55) Formaldehyde (8:17) Microdeath Softstar (14:40)

*** star songs: Candybrain (4:06) Thank You For The Evil (9:18)