SENKI MADARA

This third album has a special concept by using traditional Hungarian folk melodies and texts and since these are a few hundreds of years old, the music has an extra depth to it, so it's not usual or boring. The length of the record is also ideal, 45 minutes. I think a prog album shouldn't be longer than this.

The music is more powerful and complex than the first two Yesterdays albums, but this time I can clearly hear the Hungarian prog roots, like in "Szomjú madarak" (Thirsty Birds) has obvious EAST influences, "Rejtsetek el" (Hide me) reminded me of AFTER CRYING with the usage of cello and live strings. In "Ne mondd el" (Don't tell) you'll hear the ancient shamanistic Hungarian moods with a Taurus bass, drum solo and distorted fretless bass.

I must say that the drum sound is stellar on this record, it sounds natural, uncompressed, live and dynamic. So does the bass guitar (heavy SQUIRE and REINGOLD influences). I have a weakness for fretless bass, it should be used more often in prog!

What I always loved in Yesterdays is the female vocals and the multiple vocal harmonies. Stephanie Semeniuc, Csenge Tarsoly and Edina Szirtes Mókus did a fantastic job, each song has a unique approach, voice, so it won't get boring. Polyphonic vocals with 4-8 part harmonies are a true delight in almost every song. GENTLE GIANT-like ideas with female voices, YES and JON ANDERSON-like singing and scatting in "Szivárvány havasán". Each song is a different universe, but the album is still coherent.

Gábor Kecskeméti was introduced to the line-up in 2009 with Colours Caffé, since then Yesterdays have powerful and virtuoso flute playing and I am a big fan of flutes.

The production value is remarkable on this album, thanks to the band's motor, guitarist, Akos Bogati-Bokor, who did all the recordings, the mixing and the mastering. I was going to give this album four stars, but thanks to the amazing sound quality I will give them five. This will be one of my favorite albums for a long time for sure. Recommended with love!

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