NOVALIS

The second Novalis album - self-produced and self-released - is a competently performed piece of symphonic prog which manages to be pleasant and listenable without really catching fire. The keyboard sound manages to range the whole gamut from capturing the sounds of the early 1970s to prefiguring some of the sounds that would creep in towards the end of the decade, which is pretty interesting, though the band don't exploit this to the extent that they could have. The guitar playing tends towards fairly tired and predictable solos of the sort we've all heard a million time elsewhere, and the drum sound seems to have suffered during the production process, sounding tinny and flat. Still, a sold three stars despite this.