CHRIST 0

"Christ 0" is, as with most previous Vanden Plas albums, better than the ones before. Which is saying a lot, since I fell totally in love with their music nearly 10 years and several albums earlier with "The God Thing".

The symphonic orchestral opening of the title track may be one of their best pieces yet. And if that were to lead you to think that the riffs would take a backstage, think again! Because straight after, we have "Postcard To God".

With "Wish You Were Here" and its strangely ironic lyrics (the words that follow the title are "buring here in hell instead of me"!), we have one of the numerous highlights of the album. The others being "Shadow I Am", "Somewhere Alone In the Dark" and "January Sun" - all superb with the last one being a mini-epic. Clocking in at 10:05, it was, at the time, the second longest song by the band after "Beyond Daylight" at 10:40 (later eclipsed by "On My Way To Jerusalem" at 12:51 from The Seraphic Clockwork).

All this, with the backdrop of a fascinating interpretation of The Count of Monte Cristo, makes for a brilliant masterpiece.