KOPECKY

Let's see. The debut album from this Wisconsin trio of brothers. I've read in "Expose" that their demos have been praised one after another, so we can listen what they have on this first production.

Kopecky is a Hard/Rock prog band with prominent Mid-Eastern influences. In each song you can feel a Hindu/Arab-ish atmosphere, mostly driven by bassist Paul Kopecky, helped by mean guitar and/or ethnic and very rhythmic drumming of William Kopecky, and tied sometimes by soothing keyboards that accentuates the ethnic feeling.

They sometimes turn on the Metal influence, like in "Sky-Blue Hair", "The Drowning Waters", "The Rise and Fall of Stella Morbida" and "Autumn Swirl" in which guitarist Joe Kopecky gives a more powerful edge to the music in spite of the otherwise calm atmosphere produced by the bass or sitar.

One of the highlights is "Sukha" appears a sitar, which shows that this instrument can give an entrancing feeling while keeping up with the heaviness of the other member's energy.

"Yama" is one of the best songs, combining a sitar intro, heavy influenced Eastern bass line, passing into some heavy guitar parts, only to finish in a chorus of psych synths.

"Birdsong the Color of Pyramids" is the only "sung" piece in the album, the lyrics are recited, it has a short lenght but it's by far the most Mid-Eastern influenced song of the album.

"Al-Aaraaf" is the longest song, as the name implies, there's bound to be a lot of ethnic feeling, and you can confirm from the beggining of the song and it's in par with "Birdsongs". Evn the guitar work helps push the strange psychness to new levels.

I only miss the lack of a "long epic" or even a faster song, even though the band has proved the have the energy, talent and creativity to make great music.

Recommended for those who are begginig into prog or old fans that want something new.

Final Veredict: 4 stars. Excellent addition to any prog music collection.