TERMINAL BREATH (+ LIVE MUNICH 1996)

This is the only album by Violet District and in general the music is in neo prog style with nearly no surprise. Those who like Floydian guitar work combined with keyboard synthesizer at background, nice vocal in relatively medium tempo music would love this album.

The opening track, "Lustreless Fright" proves to be a good track with slow to medium tempo music in ambient nuance. Keyboard and guitar play important roles to provide the style of music. The music also combines the elements of space psychedelic which remind me strongly to Pink Floyd. After a short bridge of "Ego" the band continues its journey with fourth track "Hommage to The Irretrievably lost" which maintains the previous segment style. The music seems to flow naturally from one to another with good guitar solo mixed thinly throughout the song. The key to this album is the way guitar and keyboard combine the sounds together and produce floating music style with good guitar work.

"Assurance" explores the virtuosity of Karlheinz Wallner in playing the acoustic guitar work. The vocal enters the music smoothly and the beats are in medium tempo. The interlude showcases guitar solo backed with floating keyboard work. The next track shows faster tempo with much dynamic music but still maintaining the long sustain keyboard sounds. "Necessary Goodbyes" is a good and melodic track featuring the guitar fills and nice vocal work in mellow style.

Overall, this is a good album for those who love neo progressive music with some spacey music. The similarity of this album is close to Pendragon, Pallas, IQ and in fact some elements of Ozric Tentacles but in its simplest form. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW