AMENOPHIS

Starting off with some nice piano then symphonic synth, "Suntower" sounds very soft at first but then 3 minutes in it picks up speed and is very original and smooth sounding. Some people compare them to Camel, but to me they sound more like Sebastian Hardie, mainly because it's very guitar oriented throughout much like Mario Millo's playing in Sebastian Hardie. Vocals are not a highlight, but for the most part, especially on "The Flower", the singing is kept somewhat behind the instruments and I must point out that the Genesis comparisons are mainly for this tune with it's Gabriel-like fantasy lyrics and the flute passages and Hackett-like flourishes throughout. The accented-German singing gets in the way of "Venus" an otherwise decent soft prog track though things pick up at the four and a half mark when the songs switches gears and becomes a bit jazzier then steals a bit of classical, (don't ask me what classical song it is I'm not up on my classical, but you've heard it a million times before). "The Last Requiem" is a 24:20 epic with really nice flute work, nimble drumming, (catch the Genesis drum swipe 2 minutes in!) and subtle yet fiery guitar. Unfortunately there's some terrible singing towards the end but it's only for a short period of time. The last five tracks are short instumentals, very nice with an overall classical nature. This is a fine prog album from the dark ages of the early 80's. A great find by the guys from Musea with a typically excellent booklet with pictures and an extensive history of the band. Well worth the price if you are curious about quality symph-prog from the 80's. 3.5 stars!