REVELATION & MYSTERY

It took me quite a few spins to get into this album, unlike their debut. It seems the progressiveness toned down a bit on this one. I used to lose focus by the third track but one time I paid more attention to side B and noticed how better it is.

The album starts with "Flipside Apocalypse", a nice tune that gets constantly heavier with some parts that remind of Black Sabbath. I quite like the stereophonic guitar on it.

"Hangin' on the Wire" is more straightforward and mostly sung with an eruptive guitar solo near the end.

"Into the Black" is probably the one I like less, because it's difficult to listen: it's unecessarily long and constantly heavy with lots of guitar tracks that seem to dominate everything most of the time. Maybe it could be better with a more even mixing.

Side A ends with "Thirsty Moon", a most desired rest for the ears. It's a soft Rock song (well, for SBE's standards) with acoustic and crunch guitars, it reminds me a bit of Blue Öyster Cult. It also has some organ but it was mixed far too low.

"Outside Insight Blues" begins with a bluesy tune and a great guitar solo. It suddenly becomes faster and in a Hard Rock style. Then there's a cool section that brings Led Zeppelin to mind. After that, it unexpectedly turns into Swing, SBE style, introducing also the harmonica. The song then ends as it started.

"Zwei Schatten im Schatten" is the softest piece on the album, a breezy interlude for acoustic guitar and sitar. The title track starts right after it with a bang. There's a good combination of clean and distorted guitars, very nicely mixed. The vocals appear with vibrato effects, having some stereo interaction with the guitar. There's a crescendo and then a calmer part that includes the remaining instruments I was expecting to hear, synths and harp, with clean electric guitar and sitar. The vocals and distorted guitars join the party and we get to the beginning. The album ends with a long wah-wah guitar solo.

In conclusion, I miss the diversity and the long distance trips with more twists and turns of the debut, but it's still a really good record.

3.5 stars