TRINITY

An incredibly innovative accomplishment, and although other bands were doing similar things, Ekseption really carved out their own sound with this album. Combining a number of different genres across the entire work, including classical, rock, folk, jazz and world music. But despite mingling different genres together, I think it is safe to say that there is a definite overall classical theme on this album.

The classical themes, intermingled perfectly with breakneck playing, is both impressive and a pleasure to listen to. This album does not leave you bored or wanting to skip a single track. If you are an open-minded prog fan, the entire experience of listening to this album is a vibrant and exciting one. And if you are an avid classical music fan, you might be a bit unsure about how well they have put their own touches on a few classical pieces. I consider myself both a prog and classical music fan, and to me, it sounds fresh. I also believe that it holds up to this day in regard to being innovative. I do not believe they sullied those timeless Beethoven and Rimsky-Korsakov classics, but instead added their own unique prog charm to them.

The various keyboard sounds from Rick Van Der Linden stand out on many tracks and is responsible for the faster, more fluttering sections and livelier phrases. The track, 'The Peruvian Flute' is rich with instrumental gold, and takes you on a strange, unpredictable journey that ends just as strongly as it began. I never thought I would find the pan flute interesting, until I heard this rendition of a traditional song.

The trumpet work on 'Smile' reminds me of a moment in the past. It has a sense of longing, of nostalgia. The track is slower than the rest on the album, but just as beautiful. This leads into the punchy track, 'Lonely Chase' which is definitely the most bizarre but unique track in my opinion. It always reminded me of old video game music form the eighties, in a way. Its speedy insistence is fantastic, and I still maintain that it sounds like boss battle music in parts.

Moving quickly onto side B, the bass and percussion in Improvisation is outstanding. Jumpy, bright and exciting. The whole song could have just been bass and drums and I would have been happy. Props to Cor Dekker and Pieter Voogt. This song is the definition of energetic and crisp, even though the entire album pretty much goes the same route. There is a short, 'blink and you miss it' moment with the track 'Meddle' which adds a folky, medieval flavor; right before falling into their rendition of 'Flight of the Bumble Bee' which mixes their usual bombastic style of playing with some smooth jazz mid-song. Finally, the album fades out with a choir singing in angelic waves, signaling the end of a truly unique and astounding album.

I will end the review by stating that 'Trinity' is mainly a synth, sax and trumpet heavy album with many added elements. And if I could describe the overall feel of it in three words: Bright, Fast and Clean.