MARS HOLLOW

Hailing from Los Angeles, US act Mars Hollow was found in 2007 after the meeting of keyboardist Steve Mauk and drummer Jerry Beller through an ad.They were joined by singer/bassist Kerry Chicone and singer/guitarist John Baker soon after, but Kerry would quit for personal reasons to be replaced by Joe August.Initially the band was named Next, August would also leave in May 2008 with Chicone being available to regain the bass duties.After a demo Next would be renamed to Mars Hollow at the fall of 2009, followed by a contract with 10T Records in early 2010.A few months later Mars Hollow's self-titled debut was a fact.

Without breaking any new grounds, Mars Hollow's debut is an album full of Classic Prog nuances as well as modern Prog flavors, always glancing to the past and transforming the sound to the present years.With links to bands like CITIZEN CAIN, CRUCIBLE, DISCIPLINE, BOLUS or PUPPET SHOW, Mars Hollow play an elaborate Progressive Rock with dynamic and rich arrangements, good instrumental parts and expressive vocals.Most of the tracks are quite long with both vintage and contemporary references, like the careful use of GENESIS- influenced organs or the beautiful piano interludes as well as the multi-layered synthesizers and the very modern-sounding vocals.Even some beats of Mellotron appear here and there and the overall sound is basically driven by the work of keyboardist Steve Mauk.But again there are still plenty of nice guitar grooves in a Power Rock style in the vein of RUSH or TILES to make the album even more dynamic.The production of the album is fantastic, delivering an attractive and very fresh sound of a Prog release with equal doses of accesibility and complexity.

Classic Prog vibes transmitted in the modern age is what Mars Hollow's proposal is all about and anyone into balanced Progressive Rock will have the chance to listen to some very good music, albeit not very personal.Recommended.