CANTUS FIRMUS

Fantastic album by a band from my home state...New Jersey! Comparisons to Gentle Giant, (listen to the first song) and Genesis are acurate, but I also hear some Happy The Man, especially in the very polished keyboard work and Gryphon. Their music is very sombre and busy, yet at times airy and light. Guitar work is very nice, bringing to mind Hackett during his more mellow and moody side. There's some cool wind instruments with flute and recorder. The recorder playing during their epic and best tune, "Ramblin' Sailor" definately reminds me of Gryphon. In fact, the whole album has a mixture of Celtic/Renaissance and a touch light symphonic with their impeccible vocalization, some of the best in prog right now. I don't know which of the brothers Ptak sings front and center but he reminds me of Phil Shulman with that deep yet delicate voice, very unique nowadays. Now if you're looking for some hard, major time signature changing prog try something else. This album is more inline with easy listening prog for those nights when you need to chill and bring you back to the days when times were much simpler. Just look at the album cover, (one of the best in years) it practically screams what you'll hear inside which is a 4 star gem!