THE NEW CRUSADE

I was first made aware of Konchordat last year when I was given a copy of their first album 'English Ghosts', but was left rather underwhelmed by much of the album. It would seem however that the band have gone through something of a metamorphosis, because their latest offering 'The New Crusade'is nothing short of outstanding. The title track is some 14 minutes in length but never seems to drag. A nice combination of prog, hard rock and absolute majesty at times. the end section actually made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. 'A coming of age' is next up, 9 minutes of pure neo prog, just how I like it. At times it reminds me of Rush, at other times Genesis and even It Bites spring to mind. Next up is the insane 'Panic Room', which is my favourite track on the album. Again around 9 or 10 minutes in length, Panic Room rocks like nothing else on the album. Its heavy prog but without ever diving into 'prog metal' territory. 'Heaven's Gate' is actually different to the rest of the album in that it's only around 5 minutes long and actually quite, ahem, commercial sounding but still with a nice prog feel to it. Back to the heavier stuff for track 5, 'Scars Inside', which reminds me somewhat of Queensryche with lower vocals. Heavy guitars combine with a lovely and fitting keyboard riff. Finally we have 'Time to Go' which again has the kind of end section that made those hairs stand up. Beautiful guitar work too, especially in the middle of the track. If I am honest, i have to admit that I would have liked to have heard some more virtuoso keyboard work, as at times they seem to play it rather safe in this department. That's certainly not intended as a criticism, but I'm a keyboard player myself, so its just one of the things that I listen out for. I mentioned at the start of this review that the band seem to have gone through something of a metomorphosis from the first album. By this I meant that the sound is so totally different that its hard to compare the two. The most obvious change is the new vocalist, who, for my ears is just far superior to the first. His voice, although not the greatest by any means has strength and character, which I felt was sorely lacking on 'English ghosts'. The overall sound and feel is much heavier, but as mentioned before, never getting near the 'prog metal' stable. If you like your prog to rock but still have feel, heart and emotion then you won't be disappointed. The New Crusade is just a great album and I'm glad that I chose it for my first ever review. If the keyboard work had been a bit more prominent and technical i would hav awarded 'The New Crusade' 4.5 out of 5, but I think 4/5 is a very fair award for what is, for me, a top quality album.