BANTAM TO BEHEMOTH

The last few years I find it very hard to discover an album that will enthuse me. Bantam to Behemoth is one of those. Unlike many albums that initially excited me but later on my enthusiasm fizzled out, this one thrills me ever since it came on my musical radar. Everything is beautifully balanced here. The progressive parts, the 70s parts, the heavier parts, the complexity, the melodies, the avant-garde sections, the fusion touches. The listener begins listening to one song and ends up to a totally different place from the start and everything along the way has gelled naturally - and "everything" includes numerous themes, melodies and sections. The band never falls short of inspired ideas to keep the listener on their toes. The instrumental songs are seminal and if you have a playlist with instrumental prog songs each and everyone of them is eligible and this is a way of saying that the only slight flaw on the album are the vocals which aren't the best but miraculously (or not) enough, they are absolutely at home with the musical environment.

One of the highlights of prog music, simple as that. No wonder that this album is on the first place for 2008.