DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON

This was written and recorded at the same time as "The Great Leap". They decided to release the shorter and darker "The Great Leap" first. Phideaux himself has stated (tongue in cheek ?) that "Doomsday Afternoon" is a "pretentious and bloated concept album". He also stated that this record is really "one long song cycle" that has been broken into sections. Phideaux has also stated "This is the album i've always wanted to make". I'm reviewing this record as someone who has been a fan for a while, and I think that is important. I say that because i've seen so many people give this 5 stars who have never previously heard a PHIDEAUX record. And i've seen this record being compared to "Dark Side Of The Moon" , "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" , "Thick As A Brick" , "Close To The Edge" and so on. No offense to these people but ARE YOU ALL CRAZY !! Ok I know there are special guests on this record like Martin Orford and Matthew Parmenter, and yes there is an orchestra. Also this is more symphonic and complex then their past records. Everybody loves it ! Well not everybody, not me. My favourite PHIDEAUX album so far is "Chupacabras" and i'm ordering "Ghost Story" soon. That will leave "Fiendish" as the only PHIDEAUX record that I don't have yet. The subject matter is again the enviroment and governments.

"Micro Softdeathstar" opens with gentle vocals and piano before passionate vocals, drums and some good guitar arrive. Some violin after 2 minutes as the song calms down. We get some strings before my favourite part of the song 8 minutes in. "The Doctrine Of Eternal Ice (Part One)" is an instrumental with the drums and orchestration standing out. Some good guitar before 2 minutes as piano ends the song. "Candybrain" features strummed guitar, organ and keys. I like the male vocal melodies and female vocals 3 minutes in as clapping, keys and flute come in. "Crumble" is one of my favourites. Piano and orchestration lead the way. There is a great sound 2 minutes in with female vocal melodies. "The Doctrine Of Eternal Ice (Part Two)" has more female vocal melodies and orchestration. The best part of the song is 5 minutes in as it speeds up with keys and synths.

"Thank You For The Evil" has steadily pounding drums with spacey synths. There is acoustic guitar with vocals coming in after 3 minutes courtesy of Matthew Parmenter. This is my favourite tune, it's so different from the rest, almost psychedelic. "A Wasteland Of Memories" is a very orchestral song with flute and violin. "Crumble" has more female vocals and piano. "Formaldehyde" is the song that Phideaux feels everything on this album leads to, or builds up to. We get a synth solo from Orford, more vocals and violin by Parmenter. Some good guitar as well. "Microdeath Softstar" has some spoken words from Arjen Lucassen. The first 2 1/2 minutes are filled with organ melodies. Vocals before 4 minutes as violin, guitar and female vocals follow. Pulsating keys and some excellent drumming before the vocals come back.

For me already being a fan and reading all these positive reviews I expected this to be the best PHIDEAUX album yet. Boy was I wrong ! I actually prefered "The Great Leap" to this one, by a little bit. Keep in mind that my opinion is in the minority as most people love this record.