DOMINION

I'm honored to be one of the first ones to review this spectacular sophomore effort from UK based Canterbury band, Zopp. This album will go down in history as one of the greatest Canterbury albums in history, hopefully bringing back the movement. I loved the debut from these guys but, I might like this one slightly better. The duo of Ryan Stevenson and Andrea Moneta really out does themselves on this album especially with Stevenson's superb keyboard work throughout the entire album.

The 2 minute introductory track "Amor Fati" opens the album serving as a primer for the rest of the album. It includes some very nice organ and choir work from the guest singers (Sally Minnear, Caroline Joy Clarke). It is followed by the 10 minute epic "You," which was released as an EP before the release of the entire album. Beginning with a piano intro which is overlaid with organ and other keys, the track takes a classic explosive Canterbury style turn with a fast high octane sequence which eventually leads into vocals. I absolutely wore this song out even before the album dropped, and it is my favorite track off of the album.

Track 3, "Bushnell Keeler" is the lead single off of the album. In my opinion, it is the most representative of Zopp's sound as a whole. Featuring some amazing saxophone work and more immaculate Canterbury keyboard tones, very reminiscent of Caravan. "Uppmärksamhet" is a softer ambient song containing acoustic guitar over organ and flute licks. Probably the weakest track on the album by far.

"Reality Tunnels" is one of the highlights off the album. An absolute show of sheer instrumentalism similar to works of Camel of ELP. A very fast song that goes through many themes all centered around a main idea. The bass lines and Percussive organ on this song get pretty wild! The beautiful vocals and piano of "Wetiko Approaching" only last for a little over a minute before being replaced by eerie ambience which leads into the closing epic, "Toxcity." Clocking in at a little over 14:00, this song is a true show of just how talented this band is. Another highlight on the album, the song goes through many movements being mainly dominated by keyboards and guitar from Stevenson. Towards the end of the track one of the session saxophonists plays an insane crescendoing solo, as the song comes to a fitting close just a minute later.

This is being written on Febuary 3rd, 2023 the day of this albums release, which I'm sure will become a historic day amongst prog fans soon enough. A roller coaster of an album, going through many different styles and themes, this album is almost a 5 star. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 star was because on a few tracks the riffs can get a little repetitive. Other than that, an immaculate show of progressive rock at it's finest. Easily the best album so far in the 2020s.