IN A COLD EMBRACE

First of all, I must say that I love bands from Belgium; my favorite being Quantum Fantay. For some reason some of the best modern space rock comes from this small European Nation. I consider this release Post Rock with a Heavy Space Rock influence. For some background, I really only like a narrow spectrum of post rock that includes Sunlight Ascending, Sigur Ros, Talk Talk, Until Sunrise, Explosions in the Sky and a hand full of others; pretty much the ones that cross over to the progressive spectrum and Battlestations falls squarely into that category for me . There is a Tangerine Dream quality to this music. And I grew up with Tangerine Dream as my favorite space rock band; so the reason why I really like this release. So let's get down to the songs now.

Prologue : Nature morte - You're not welcome here - opens the CD and is appealing from the very beginning. The opening ambiance sets an ominous tone of helplessness and despair. The introduction yields to a marching beat taking us ever closer to the mood of suspense. That suspense flows into a rock solid climax with a jazz element and stable hook that I really like. Comrade - The way we grieve ? continues the theme of the first track giving the listener a sense of hope that builds and continues into the next track.

Interlude : Time stands still ? has an epic opening with a reverse symphonic orchestra. It pulls the listening into a time lapse reminiscent of the tracks name.

Breaking bad news - The faces we remember- this song seems to have little direction or structure, but at the same time has some beautiful movements.

The semblance of fate -Epilogue : Citizen creep - The end - This might be my favorite track as it has that strong Tangerine Dream sound; painting distant landscapes, futuristic scenes and alternate realities, but concludes with a sense of solid in-this-world grounding..

The music is talented and unique, and ties together the sounds of the 70s space rock with the contemporary progressive metal of 2012 with a nice layer of post rock. At times the ambiance drags on a little too long without substantive structure or changes for my taste. However, overall, it is a fine release for a second album from a relatively unknown band. I have not seen any live material from the band. It would be interesting to see if that can reproduce the material in a live setting. In any case, give this a 3.5, and round up to a four. 4 Stars