SERUM OF LIFE

The debut album from this French neo prog band. Or rather; art-rock band.

The music here is neither entirely neo-prog, AOR, rock, symph prog or even eclectic. It really integrate everyone of these genres. The easy way out would be to conclude this is music made in France by a French band. And that is a compliment, btw. I am not a fan of the axis of English prog rock. When Alkozaur offers something special like this, I grab it by both hands.

Although special, the influences from Marillion & Gazpacho cannot be denied. But Alkozaur has distilled Marillion and their brand of art-rock into their very own brew. A very melodic brew, btw.

Philippe Compagnon's vocals is excellent. My only gripe is that he could had done them in his mothertongue instead of in English. But his English is far better than Fish and Peter Gabriel's grasp of English though..... But French vocals is more than welcome although I do not speak a word French. In any case; Philippe Compagnon is a brilliant vocalist.

He is very much helped by some really tasteful, understated instrumentations. The sound is excellent too.

The music on Serum of Life is great throughout and would really appeal to fans of art-rock, Marillion and Gazpacho. The best song is When Angels Fly on an album full of great music and highly recommended.

4 stars