Nº 6

If the real mark of great progressive rock is a marriage of the intelligent and the visceral then this album exactly delivers to that brief and I cannot recommend it highly enough....The mood is dark, the music rhythmically complex, the group performance tight and virtuosic, the production, arrangements and recording brilliantly clear and satisfying, the harmonic language deliciously angular and dissonant, and the whole album violently energetic from beginning to end. In many ways the music is close to classical/systems music in terms of the precision of its execution and the rigorousness of its composition, i.e. Steve Reich, Louis Andriessen, Steve Martland, Michael Gordon... but this music has much more energy, punch and darkness.... it is also great fun in a hardcore kind of way. I really would give this 6 stars if I could.... what a brilliant achievement! Every album by this band has so much to recommend it... if you like dark, angular, well constructed music such as post ' 72 King Crimson, Magma, and especially Art Zoyd and Univers Zero, then every album by 'Present' is ESSENTIAL listening.