DARK MATTER

I haven't been entirely convinced by IQ in the past. Subterranea is good, but I haven't liked some of their other stuff. This album has changed my mind however, it's by far the best thing I've heard from IQ. It starts off with the powerful "Sacred Sound" in 7/4, which has a splendid chorus and some nice keyboard/guitar work. "Red Dust Shadow" starts off with some gentle acoustic guitar and builds up to a powerful ending. "You Never Will" is a mid-pace song with some nice Banks-ish keyboard work. "Born Brilliant" reminds me a bit of Pink Floyd, but the real gem here is the 25 minute epic "Harvest Of Souls". I won't comment on the lyrics which I haven't studied yet, but this is probably the best prog "epic" I've heard since "Awaken". It starts off with gentle acoustic guitar reminiscent of "Entangled" or the intro to "Supper's Ready" and this section has one of the most beautiful melodies I've ever heard in prog ("day after day"). There is some nice keyboard mellotron backing. This is the best section of the song for me but it builds into a real epic making this album an essential purchase for IQ and Genesis fans, if only for this song.