KINGDOM OF ENDS

Ouch!!! What in the holy name of Prog where these guys thinking! Ok, I'll admit vocals never constituted prog's main attraction and God knows we've heard some pretty bad acts, even from the most seasoned bands. But this one takes the cake. As for the production, it sounds as if some producer had rounded off a prog garage band, handed them the usual instrumental arsenal and said: "Here, boys, go make some noise".

Ok, perhaps I'm being a little too harsh here. To be fair, I admit "Kingdom of Ends" does have its share of good musical phrases and some inspired passages (if you listen very closely, you can even find a few sparks of genius, even some good keyboard and guitar licks here and there). But these good moments are far too few to even make it a decent album.

Some tracks remind me of PENDRAGON but most are reminiscent 80's MARILLION (the track "Nothing About Nothing" is a real "Market Square Hero" sound-alike). Not bad, you will say. However, there is a sameness that pervades though out the album that makes it tedious to listen to till the end. First of all, the vocalist seems to have a very limited range; he has trouble reaching some notes and as a result is sometimes off key - this really spoils the magic. Also, as he mostly screams at the top of his voice, you wish for some relief after the second or third track. Second, no one instrument really stands out: the lead guitar often sounds as if it were hidden in the background, the drumming is very elementary and the keyboards are hardly distinguishable from it all. I suppose a decent recording studio could have done marvels with such material because it does have some potential. As it stands, we'll just have to take it for what it is: a half-decent looking Cinderella dressed in rags.

P.S. This band is NOT to be mistaken for the 70's band of the same name, whom I haven't heard yet and for whom the critics seem to have nothing but high praises.