UNFOLDED LIKE STAIRCASE

In the liner notes Matthew Parmenter thanks Jan-Erik from ANEKDOTEN for introducing him to Peter Hammill and VDGG. Certainly VDGG comes to mind when listening to this dark and moody record, mainly because of Matthew's Hammill-like vocals. I was also reminded of KING CRIMSON and ANEKDOTEN.

"Canto IV (limbo)" is such a great song with a melody of piano, guitars and drums for the first two minutes and then becoming quite pastoral with gentle vocals, mellotron and guitar.The chorus is intense, led by theatrical vocals. "Crutches" features strummed acoustic guitar and vocals, drums and piano come in as things become more uptempo.The tempo changes continue and there is a flood of mellotron towards the end of the song.

"Into The Dream" has a rather dark intro, and that mood continues through the song. There is such a great, gloomy melody after 5 minutes, and more beautiful mellotron after 10 minutes.This song has some ANEKDOTEN references. "Before The Storm" opens with piano and softer vocals that gets angry with organ. This song has lots of mood shifts and tempo changes.There is violin, mellotron, jazzy guitar as well as heavy guitar. This is a real ride in the mind of someone on the edge of losing it.

I really think this is a must have for prog fans, a beautiful dark album.