LIGHT OF DAY, DAY OF DARKNESS

This is one of the assets I discovered on progarchives. It got great reviews and lots of recommendations and that always makes a person curious. But it was also the one hour track that intrigued me. I do not only love epics but also collect them. And then of course a track of 60:06 is one you can't ignore.

Downside of these facts is that you approach it with high expectations. In those circumstances it's almost bound to become a disappointment. But I saw that coming so I tried to get into this album with an open mind and I'm glad I did because the first spin indeed caused a bit of a disappointment but after some more listens I grew into the complex song more and more and I think I'm ready for a fair judgement now.

The whole thing starts with quiet music when suddenly a young child starts babbling, the music gets louder and the vocals set in. This goes on for a while and just about after half an hour the music quiets down again and a female singer takes over. This sounds very much ok to me, it's variegated singing, intriguing and almost a bit enchanting. Then the music swells again, I really like the third quarter of the song, at about 2/3 the only real guitar solo takes its turn, after first listen I thought it was mindblowing but after a few times I got more critical and noticed it's not really the best solo I ever heard, still good but no more.

In the last quarter at first the song is quite heavy but towards the end it gets more and more quiet as to complete the circle. Rounding up I have to say I admire the composition, I think it's better than the execution without wanting to maintain that Green Carnation is a band that falls short in that department. The performance is good, very good even but not perfect. Final conclusion: I'm glad I bought it and I think it's fair to say that the average rating so far (4,3) reflects the right score for this magnum opus. So 4 stars by me.