REALITY FEAR

MOONSHINE BLAST is a four piece band comprising of Nicolas Duke (lead vocals, keyboards, piano, acoustic guitars), Gabin Rock (electric guitars, b/vocals), Renaud Lyabastre (bass) and Thomas Zecchinon (drums, percussion, b/vocals). March 2018 saw the release of their debut album 'Reality Fear', clocked in at over 60 minutes. What we have here is a homage to the spirit and flavor of the past, yet refreshing and quite original approach with excellent musicianship. It would be fair to tag CD 'Reality Fear' as a sort of merger for different ingredients. There's an abundance of ideas and styles. Whatever the genre, this is a solid piece of music and worth a spark an interest. Standout tracks? The album starts off with wondrous 'Mars', evoking the classic neoprog sounds in the vein of GLD and Marillion. Very melodic, lots of subtlties and elegance. Devoted fans of Chris De Burgh should find plenty to enjoy on 'We Want This World To Be Better'. Another case in point, the longest composition titled 'Cutting The Rope'. It has a gathering structure, to flow through a variety of musical landscapes and moods. A song of two contrasting halves beginning with a tranquil guitar, vintage keys and vocal lament reminiscent of 70's Genesis, before morphing into a heavier section a'la Opeth which brings some growlings. At the end, there's another Genesis-like section. The next item is 'The Gate Of Dawn'. In terms of comparisons, it has some earmarks of Riverside. Moving on, hard edged stance of 'Dusty Lady' is reminiscent of such bands like Foreigner and Thunder. Also worthy of note is the closing track 'Earthquake' which does share much in common with Camel, Toto and ELO. The rest of material leans into more pop/rock territories, still holding the melodic focus. Last but not least, fantastic artwork/packaging. To my mind, MOONSHINE BLAST gave a superb visiting card. Sure, for a debut release that's produced on a limited budget, the quality of 'Reality Fear' is just amazing. Actually, having listened to this album for a few months, I think this is one of my favorite CD's in 2018 - because it features a lot of stylistic diversity plus unexpected twists and turns. This work represents very good value for money and can be ordered through the band's website.