FANTASTIC FREAK SHOW CARNIVAL

King Bathmat, whose ultra-cool, eclectic sophmore "Crowning Glory" caught my attention a year ago has now, in June 2005 released his third album "Fantastic Freak Show Carnival". King Bathmat are a most interesting pastiche of many diverse influences in styles, a more psych driven Sondre Lerche, strong Andy Partridge walks through acid-drenched forests, some reflective Doves, some progressive Marillion(but early 70`s folk-prog bands,too) and strong heavy/light subtle similarities to Porcupine Tree. There`s a strong, clear progressive- rock spirit that sifts in and out of focus on much of the material. Unlike so many of the modern -day prog-rock bands, King Bathmat are writing songs, not jams, melodies, not loose-ideas based around riff-progressions. It`s this adventurous spirit that separates the band`s work inside the framework of progressive rock. Fantastic Freak show Carnival is a concept album. The concept turns around a city, which is populated by all kinds of ill and drug-dependent types. No constant history is told, but stories of different characters are joined to form a kind puzzle. The song Fantastic Freak Show Carnival is really nifty, darting through movements yet sounding so coherently part of something bigger that you begin wondering if you're listening to some long forgotten rock opera by The Who - Tommy 2: Tommy Reloaded. Equally appealing is Ghost In The Fire which demonstrates a turn of phrase that is massively charming in a bitter, yet strangely polite way, and ends up catching a wave of absurd pop perfection, similar to a more gutsy lightbulb sun by Porcupine Tree. In "Fantastic Freak Show Carnival", King Bathmat has created an (almost) perfect form of escapism. It's a chance to journey into another universe, one that has a distinctly more psychedelic-tinge, and most importantly is brilliant fun. In fact, it's all the fun of the fair.