PRESENT

As a long time fan of VDGG, I was quite astonished to hear about their reformation and recording of a new studio album - the first one after 1977 "Quiet Zone"! But somehow I felt these guys could not miss the target whatever they do. Unlike the bunch of other prog groups who used to produce crappy music, VDGG were always too serious, to experimental, too avant-garde and too dark to dare follow the straight path of some of their peers. "Present" is a wonderful comeback and certainly one of the best albums in 2005. It falls short of masterpiece only because it is too extended over 2 CDs and much of the second, instrumental disc is more of a challenging listen, even for the fans. But, the Disc 1 is surely matching their classic masterpieces from the early 1970s. These grey- haired guys can still kick many younger would-be "prog" or "alternative" asses!