HOLDFÉNYKERT

MOONLIT GARDEN (Holdfénykert) is the debut album of YESTERDAYS. I've discovered this band with their recent album "Senki madara" and that made me curious about their earlier works. Holdfénykert is such a strong debut album from a young band back in 2006. It looks like this album was very successful in Hungary, which was later reissued by MUSEA RECORDS in France and later it was released as an audiophile reissue by Finnish label Seacrest Oy. I have this latest issue of the album only.

Such a unique sound with all the obvious seventies prog influences, heavy use of mellotron, minimoog, steel guitar we love in YES, shiny female vocals and airy flutes. Lyrics both in Hungarian and in English.

The second half of the album is the real highlight for me. Starting with Várj még (Just wait) that features beautiful acoustic sounds with sitar and mellotron, flutes and a fantastic moog solo at the end. Hol vagy? (Where are you) is a haunting symphonic rock composition with classical guitar, lots of mellotrons and jazzy backing vocals colored with flute. The most sophisticated prog composition on this album is SEVEN. I've never heard anything like this from an Eastern European band before. Tricky time-signatures, stereo moog sounds, mellotrons all over, cachy melodies and powerful choruses, screaming hammond solos, ebow-driven electric guitar solos and a fantastic coda which reminded me of the ending of YES' Starship Trooper (called WÜRM).

This is a very strong debut album and it can be a nice addition to any symphonic prog lover's collection.