IMAGENESS

I saw this band on stage when warming up Anekdoten at Stoa, Helsinki in 2004. There were skillful playing involved, but also some humoristic solutions which did not amuse me. Anyhow decided to check their records from the local library, and I admit I did not like this album very much. Most possibly as I was unable to synchronize my own feelings with the band's music when listening. This record has its merits though certainly. It begins with gentle notes rising from the void, sounds being quite modern, resembling the tones of late 1980's or early 1990's. As "Line of Force" kicks out, it's instantly clear that the musicians are very talented, as some of the rhythms are really quite complex. Jari Ukkonen is also a very good bassist, and there's plenty of room arranged for his on this album. "Fear" is a more tender ballad, with the power growing when moving towards the end. "Chain Reaction" is then again a faster song, and I sensed some influences of 1980's and 1990's Rush and Yes on the notes. The following tracks are much longer, "Metamorphosis" starting with ten minutes duration. As composition these are much richer, but still not very directly hitting my own aesthetic yearnings. "Sequels (The Feast of Fools)" runs over twenty-six minutes, and is probably pure bliss for those fond of neo symphonic prog epics. The beginning of it is quite nice with spacey abstract sounds, and there is a really pretty acoustic guitar part included too. But the later evolvements weren't so interesting for my own experience, yet am I assured that for both fans of neo prog and Dream Theater oriented music this record is a worthy to album for checking out.