WHISPERS AND SCREAMS

This is one of those hidden jewels that you find in a lucky day. I didn't know about this band and I just have seen the cover of the album around this site. I thought it was some extreme metal band but after a brief research I discovered they were symphonic prog. And after getting the album and give it the first listen I was completely interested on the concept, the sound and everything about the project. It is indeed a great experience and is not a love in the first listen, but it does leave you wondering enough to keep trying it.

First thing that I noticed was that even though you can identify the influences, they never sounds like "anyone else" but as a collective pieces of different styles very well balanced and oriented into a very nice sound achieved. I thought I was hearing a merge between prog metal and symphonic prog, but then there are those John Lords kind of keyboards, some bluesy moments, some heavy rock riffs and some interesting vocals, not catchy but very interesting, that gives to the overall sound a special taste. That's what I found after the first listening.

So I spin it again some more time and the music keeped growing. I think it's hard to be "original" or "progressive" nowadays, when we have legions of creative bands that put the standard too high in the past, but this is one of those special projects that promise a lot in the near future, but at today standards, they are over the top. The songs are original and fresh, with a lot of 70's evident references but keeping it modern, keeping it refreshing.

As for the musicians, all of them are masters in what they do. But above that, the style is what gets my attention better. More than intricate music, more than too-hard, too-tricky, too fast to play riffs, they concentrate on putting emotion and drama around the music and the result is a very cohesive material with all the styles listed above.

I do believe that any ELP, Deep Purple or Kansas fan could enjoy this music, as well as any prog metal and heavy prog fans. The music is original, cool, interesting and I feel this band understands very well what is to be "progressive" and keep evolving in this beloved genre of music. 4.5 stars is fair. Maybe it will grow more and get the attention it deserves. Great album.

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