THE FIFTH ELEMENT

Second offering from these guys and damn are they legit. Prog heads and keyboardists are going to drool over this one as there are tons of vintage keys, organ and beautiful piano passages. LeMays drumming is beyond extraordinary. He sounds like a mix of Peart, Palmer and early Genesis Phil Collins. Very keyboard heavy, but both guitarist are allowed room to breath. Opening songs The Great Awakening, A Different Place in Time and the Nightmare have a Kansas/ Rush vibe to them. Dragonfly is a beautiful solo piano piece that reminds me of Close to Home by Keith Emerson. Highlights for me are Exordium, Overture, Water and Earth. These are heavy more aggressive songs that at times veer off into 90s Dream Theater territory. This whole album is very listenable from beginning to end. Although there are epic pieces the songwriting and composition is very catchy. The vocalist on this is also phenomenal. I looked up the keyboardist Roby Deaton and found a few new age guitar and piano albums, but his sweet spot is definitely this. He seems to have been inspired by Keith Emerson and Kerry Livgren, but that's just my opinion.Easily one of the better release's of 2022.