II: MISTRAL

I think perhaps ProgArchives says it best when they say "Good, but non-essential." I haven't heard the first album, but this one is not bad. There is some good musicianship and I like the fact that they are willing to go the all-instrumental route. That's not something all bands can pull off. It means you need to have strong composing AND playing skills. If you've got vocals, you can sometimes let one or the other slide a bit.

Well this one sounds good! It's not really centered on one specific instrument, so it's not (for example) a guitarfest a la Vai or Satriani. Each band member has his moment to lead the compositions and take a solo. I did find myself occasionally questioning certain choices they made - why that keyboard sound? Did that part need to be repeated? But overall, it is worth a listen or two.