CONQUEST OF THE PACIFIC

Well it's hard for me to give this album only 4 stars but I highly recommend it to anyone who can appreciate unique and outstanding progressive rock. Not every song on this album is truly amazing but certain tracks stand out as the best in my prog collection.

This obscure band from Armenia has identified themselves with "Conquest of the Pacific" as a group that cannot easily be compared to most others. Their music incorporates plenty of flute and traditional strings and horns. I would have to label their music as a fusion of prog-folk and prog-metal, although the prog-metal aspects are light and hardly dominate the other instruments.

Highlight tracks for me are "Water Spark" and "The Way Back Home". The flute plays a large role in both songs but the guitar riffs and "in-the-pocket" drumming make both tracks some of my favourite prog gems. In Water Spark, the flute carries the song through multiple musical themes; each one with a different mood. "The Way Back Home" features many overlapping voices from the traditional instruments and showcases a variety of musical concepts.

Conclusion: This band is definitely progressive and displays a wide variety of musical ideas throughout this album. The creative use of instruments and stellar composition make "Conquest of the Pacific" an album that should be heard by all.