CROSSING THE LINE

There are few bands in the history of Prog who could create such spellbindingly atmospheric songs as Asia Minor were capable of conjuring. This album is full of dreamy, rainy soundscapes that are capable of hypnotizing a listener into a state of exquisite melancholic stasis. Depressive but beautiful passages abound...

Mahzun Gozler is the highlight of the entire record. 8+ minutes of blissfully depressive flute and guitar backed by a rock solid rhythm section that keeps the music from becoming too downcast. This is one of their greatest songs.

Mystic Dance is another highlight. An all-too-short instrumental passage featuring a weeping flute; you could drown in the deep watery atmosphere.

Misfortune is a good song but it's also one of the few A.M. tracks that really suffer from the vocalist's thick accent. In most songs it fits very well the mood but here it's a little distracting... though the vocal melody itself is very nice and the song quite good as well.

The next few tracks are only of average quality (compared to the rest of their work) until the track Hayal Dolu Gunler Icin comes along. This is an excellent song that could fit into the Heavy Prog category. The vocals are more interesting here than on typical AM songs. The lyrics are not sung in English... which adds an ethereal, otherworldly quality to the track. For some reason I love not being to understand the lyrics... it makes things even more dream-like, mysterious, and magical and I wish this band would've done the majority of their vocals in this language.

This criminally under-rated band's debut isn't quite the masterpiece that their second album Between Flesh and Divine is. The few average-quality tracks do not detract from the greater tracks, but the overall album is less cohesive than BF&D. Crossing the Line is, however, excellent high quality Symphonic Prog and I would recommend it to any Sympho-maniac. 4 stars.