BETWEEN FLESH AND DIVINE

Showing significant development over their previous album, Asia Minor's Between Flesh and Divine takes a lot of inspiration from classic Camel (from the period between Mirage and Moonmadness) and updates the sound and tightens up the song structure to deliver the prog majesty in accessible, bite-sized chunks. In other words, it's Asia Minor trying the same trick Camel did with Rain Dances of making their music more accessible - except Asia Minor accomplish the job with a great deal more panache than Camel did, retaining enough complex symphonic prog features to appeal to fans of the golden age of prog.

The end result sounds remarkably like the then-current neo-prog groups in the UK, making the album an interesting missing link between the symphonic bands of the golden age and the upcoming neo-prog wave, but the shortcomings of the production hamper the sound a little and the album ultimately doesn't quite hit the heights either of the older acts that inspired Asia Minor or the coming acts who would follow in their footsteps.