HORROR EXPRESS

OK, 'Horror express'! What is this going to be??!! Well, Matthew had stated that the next CD would be slightly different to the 'Astray' album and he was not wrong! This new set of songs is a lot more varied in style than anything he has done by himself or with Discipline. Not to say that is a bad thing of course, but it was strange hearing such a different direction in a few numbers. Of course there are still the clear prog songs, such as 'Polly new', 'In the dark' and 'The cutting room'. Even then those songs are not traditional in our sense. 'In the dark' is a genuinely complex 9:22 of music that opens the album, once again Matthew's unique voice and angular composition work very well here. 'Escape into the future' is quite perhaps the oddest song on offer, being almost 80's poppy when it starts, it does actually work into a strong song, however. I am fully aware that Matthew's work does have somewhat of a 'Hammill' influence and his clear 'eclectic' nature (similar to Hammill's) really shines through on this album. The piano is the center of most of the pieces here and he really does play well, not fast or manic but with a great amount of 'feel'. This is most evident on the tracks 'Monsters from the id' and 'All done (horror express)', where the piano is almost the only musical instrument. With a couple of very Parmenter/Discipline sounding short instrumentals thrown in, the album as a whole works well. It may not be as easily accessible as 'Astray' but with repeated listens it has become apparent that this is another solid release from Matthew.

Check out the cover too, its quite the interesting painting!

4 stars easily