SECOND

Two great musicians, an Italian and a Pole, have come together in Germany to cut some great prog rock and prog metal filled to the brim with nice guitars and keys. The rock side is triumphant, the guitar crying tears of joy and sounding somewhere between the best of arena rock coming home to prog and the best of guitar muzak spicing things up. The metal side is of a good thickness and weight, the guitar now coming down hard and fast. On both sides the keys add extra texture and levity. Synths and pianos both do their espective jobs in this sense. The Italian, Ferrara, as such is our hero with his wonderful work on the twice mentioned guitar, pretty much making the album. His bass is also well played. The Pole, Lis, gives us the keys and gives us them well. His drums complete the picture. The opener "Strong Principle" is the best track, but everything on here is worth a listen. A great effort by this skillful duo.

SECOND - After noticing that SYNCROMIND PROJECT, three years later, had just released their follow-up album, I checked out their website again. I was surprised as they give their second album away for free again - But WHY?.. Of course, I immediately downloaded it and listened to what those two guys - yes, it's still only the two of them - have to offer. What I heard has actually nothing in common with their debut album. SECOND, containing 8 tracks, is of completely different nature. Sure, their playing technique or style is still recognizable, however, these new songs are even more interesting and intriguing. I don't know where to start, but the first thing when comparing the two albums is the quantum leap on the sound side. A huge wall of sound awaits you, each track offers more and more details in terms of the song writing and spatial arrangement of the instrumentation being used - especially when listening to the album on a good audio system or headphones. This album really sounds consistent, it is obviously the result of two musicians even more devoted to one common goal. The guitars played by Enzo Ferrara are very present and feature a very strong and rich sound which is absolutely matching the riffs, melodies and phrasings, as well as the solos. The bass guitar not only underlines the tracks perfectly but also has enough space to let go its mere support work. A really nice job was done on the keyboards and FX side, the sounds were chosen intelligently so that you will not miss anything in the songs, nor would you think that there is too much information to cope with. Let's take a look at the drums: Vito Lis has delivered an excellent job here, the drum kit sounds absolutely natural and powerful and - which is even more outstanding - was used in its most musical way, coloring track by track, in symbiosis with the rest of the band. I could write more about this piece of art, but that would be way beyond my scope here. However, I recommend listening to tracks like "Under Water", "On A Giants Shoulder" and "Journey" to get an overview on the depth of this album, as this one really takes you away on a musical trip. I still wonder about the reason for giving away their work for free - for the second time. Music admirers will be delighted, as they can just go visit their website and download whatever audio package they want. As a novelty, the download section of the band's website offers the possibility to donate for the band, which seems to be beneficial for the third album which hopefully will not take three more years to be released. In my opinion, this constantly evolving band is worth following on the Internet and also donating a few bucks - these two guys are just great.