EPILOG

Many reviewers have already preceded me in saying this: Anglagard's 'Epilog' managed to do what seemed less likely, to top their excellent debut album ' Hybris'. Evidently, the band's performing virtuosity is properly matched with their ability to function as a cohesive instrumental unit, yet you can tell that they have achieved a more cohesive integrity and a more aggressive sound. The compositions themselves demand stuff like that, since it's full of wicked chord and tempo twists, sharp contrasts of mood, and a major recurrence of dissonance. The three longer tracks (2, 4 and 5) are the most sombre and disturbing pieces in the whole Anglagard's repertoire: it doesn't mean that they don't contain some playful moments (the closure to track 2, for instance, is a marvellous circus-like climax), but definitely 'Epilog' is basically a kingdom of emotional distress and psychological tension ruled by the tyrant hands of unpredictable dissonance and Gothic ambience. Each one of the many acoustic pastoral passages that appear here and there is not an invitation to relax actually, but a momentary act of constraint that cannot hide the impending explosion of obscurity that is sure to come shortly after: the electric energy and overwhelming power of the stronger moments gets in this way effectively enhanced. The 2-minute opening track, aptly entitled 'Prolog', is a beautiful orchestral tour-de-force that announces the oppressive gloomy spirit that is going to accompany the listener for the next 45 minutes; while the closure, also 2 minute long, is a grand piano solo that reflects a meditative, eerie farewell to the listener, introspective yet uneasy, like a subtle expression of silent frustration. Anything you hear on this album is full of emotional tension and reflective discomfort, either explicitly or not: I think that this was Anglagard's ultimate artistic goal, therefore I see 'Epilog' as their top achievement, as well as one of the brightest prog masterpieces of our era.