EPILOG

As much as I enjoy the first album, it is quite "cold" to me. Not a lot of emotion to it. But it is still a very engaging album that flows well and had much to enjoy.

This album on the other hand............is still quite good, but more disjointed and experimental. There is no mistaking it is the same band, but the dynamics are far more drastic (much quieter quiet parts, much louder loud parts) and unlike the first album I have trouble finding melodies to latch on to. Still, I like the album enough to give it the same rating. But this one looses a half star for being less consistent and for meandering a bit (or so it seems to me). Perhaps it's the fact that the long tracks are the only actual "songs" on here, and even those seem somewhat fragmented? Perhaps the lack of vocals detracts more than I thought it would? I didn't much care for the vocals on the first album........Swedish just seems to not work as a sung language.....at least in the context of prog.

But still, I find myself listening intently whenever I put it on, trying to discover the meaning of the tracks and grasp what the band was aiming at. Perhaps this is a sign that it didn't work? I think it's a sign that in spite of the flaws I mention, it is still a well constructed and engaging album. Just not as good as the first one for my tastes.

A real shame that this band stopped here. I suspect this album would appear as a sort of "sophomore slump" in their discography if they had continued. As it is, it is a somewhat obtuse swan song. Still, I'll round up because this band was something special on the whole, and seeing them at Nearfest in 2003 confirmed it (where they played a couple of these songs and they came off better than on album for sure). Now, if they would only release the NF recordings so everyone could hear the two new songs they performed at that time that have never been released (both quite good) ...................

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