REFULGENCE

For those unfamiliar, Epignosis plays a melodic, textured and symphonic style of progressive rock. This is the path followed taken again on "Refulgence" and while not unprecedented, it does not need to be. Instead of sprawling, dense epics that test your patience and tolerance of self indulgence, "Refulgence" is a very mellow album, dominated by piano and synth, ripe with acoustic and clean guitar, with some crunchy guitar tones thrown in, harmonious bass and punctuated with soothing vocals. Brown's wife, Tasha, has an increased role on this album and her vocals can be described best as angelic. Wish their natural voices could shine throughout and not occasionally dive into effects, which happens a few times, but that is just the personal preference of this reviewer.

The songs on "Refulgence" have been trimmed down, (or maybe simply broken up) and instead of the 8 minute + songs heard on "Still the Waters" there are more here, all under 6 minutes in length with one exception: the 17 minute self titled track. After an ambient intro piece, said title track begins and is really a microcosm of the album. Everything is here in one song, drifting gently from section to section and has quite a variety within its frame. Also here one will notice the greatly improved drumming, which, (while not a buzz kill on "Still the Waters") was a bit rough at times and lackluster. The physical sound is much improved with this album, as is the actual drumming. On a related note, while not really an issue before, the overall production is also better...and kudos to Brown for developing as a complete musician.

After the very good title track, we have my personal favorite on the album, the progressive and electric guitar focused "Bold Eternal Day". An awesome song put together here. A very strong start to the album, which includes some other standouts such as "Riddles in the Dark", "A Handful of Humanity" and the acoustic "If the World". The album ends with a piano ballad, sung entirely by Tasha and is really the best way to end such a peaceful album.

A tranquil album, intricate and melodic, Brown has a great sense of harmony, and has created quite a textured work. Though its light nature keeps it serene, and not dense. Every song is not the same of course, and some have a different feel to keep things mixed up. Another very solid and beautiful album by Epignosis.

Four Stars

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