DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON

I love progarchives in that I could find great music via reviews and full-length samples. I found the song Formaldehyde quite a solid tune which brings back memories of the progressive rock movement in the seventies. When I got this album, I was blown away with the opening epic. I found it such a magnificent and accessible composition, yet I was underwhelmed by the rest of the album. After a few listens, the other songs started growing on me and ended up enjoying Doomsday Afternoon.

The music is certainly a bit pretentious, but to write a three-album concept, you need this epic sound. The music is mostly classically inspired as well as being influenced by 70s progressive rock bands. Doomsday Afternoon is mostly mid-tempo: they write some terrific mellow music as well as non-heavy music.

The album begins with Micro Deathstar. Featuring strong vocals, excellent orchestrations, great dynamics, and a perfectly natural song progression throughout its long duration. The Doctrine of Eternal Ice pt.1 starts with a silly Hallelujah style theme which unfortunately is the main theme in the album. However, the orchestration is rich and redeems that theme. Candybrain might be the least memorable track here, just a pleasant acoustically-strummed mellow tune with nice harmonies. However, it transitions into a tiny piece that is so gorgeous that you'll most likely feel goosebumps and stop what you are currently doing. That piece is the instrumental Crumble , featuting a piano theme that will pull emotional strings. Crumble is much needed after a dip in quality after the glorious opening track. The second part of The Doctrine of Eternal Ice continues the high-quality trend by being superior to the first part in every way, including that theme I do not like, but it almost fits here. Part 2 has a grandiose sound that fully harmonized; it is a great example of what Symphonic Rock means.

The second half starts with Thank You For The Evil , a mellow and quasi-psychedelic number with synthesizer sounds used by German band Eloy. As a matter of fact, this song sounds similar to the typical late 70s Eloy sound while having the elements of Phideaux. A Wasteland of Memories introduces itself with a familiar vocal melody of an earlier track and builds un into beautiful orchestration. To make things better, Crumble comes back, this time with more grand piano and female vocals. It is just as good as the previous version of it, if not better. Formaldehyde comes next, the song I was familiar with when I bought this album. Unfortunately, I feel that it is somewhat out of place in the album. This song emphasizes the moog synthesizer and has a bit more punch than the other tracks. The problem I have with this track is that it is a bit quirky for my tastes near the end and that bloody main theme is used a lot. Do not get me wrong, it is still a good track and has some fantastic symphonic parts. The closer Microdeath Softstar , which is the longest track in the album, does not disappoint. It mixes the grandiose power of a song like The Doctrine of Eternal Ice pt.2 with a dramatic instrumental section in the middle.

This is really a very good album that is enjoyable and easy to listen to at the same time. Recommended to all Symphonic Prog lovers.

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