A VULGAR DISPLAY OF PROG

Moongarden has turned into a very interesting progrock band since their debut album entitled Moonsadness from 1994, although this album (2009) is only their eight studio-album in 20 years (their latest is Voyeur from 2014). In 2010 I attended a Moongarden gig in The Netherlands (they were support-act for Beardfish), one of the first Italian prog bands I ever witnessed on stage. And they made a lot of fans that evening, also due to their charismatic singer.

On A Vulgar Display Of Prog (65 minutes, 8 songs) Moongarden invites us again on an interesting and captivating musical journey, these guys play progressive rock in the true meaning of the word. The one moment it's bombastic Seventies symphonic rock (in the vein of 76-77 Genesis) with lush Mellotron and a powerful guitar sound or mellow with dreamy vocals and ambient keyboards (Demetrio And Magdalena). The other moment we can enjoy an 'Eighties Queen synthesizer sound' (Mdma) or a heavy guitar wall with rap-like vocals (Compression), what a stunning variety! And I am absolutely delighted about the interplay between the guitars and keyboards: goose bumps in Aesthetic Surgery (howling guitar with choir-Mellotron), Wordz & Badge (exciting duel between aggressive guitar riffs and choir- Mellotron) and Demetrio And Magdalena (again howling guitar with bombastic choir-Mellotron). At some moments Moongarden also sounds mellow and warm with a strong emotional undertone like in Aesthetic Surgery featuring a tender piano and melancholical vocals ("I am an artist, not God"). Those vocals are an important part of Moongarden their distinctive sound with a lot of emotion and expression, a pretty unique voice in the progrock of the last two decades.

Although this music is not always my cup of tea, I am impressed, 15 years after their debut album Moongarden Moongarden were still alive and progging!

My rating: 3,5 star.