A-MAZE

Silhouette is a dutch neo prog band with two album under the belt so far. This is their debute from 2007 named A maze. The music offered by this band on their first album is neo prog in vein of US or Haze, little to mid tempo , but for sure enjoyble. Also the album has some good synth solo and guitar arrangements interplayed with a good voice of Brian de Graeve. All the pieces stands as good, maybe in places the sound overall is little dated, a thing that was improved in the next release. The album is balanced and has a good production and for a debute album is quite prommising, but is more to work to become something for a real intrest in neo prog genre. This will hopefully be shown with the imminent release of the second album, much better and more intristing. 3 stars is best I can gibe to A maze.

A Dutch Neo Prog band from Utrecht,born out of the meeting of drummer Jos Uffing (who had been singer for Cliffhanger a couple of years back) and guitarist Brian de Graeve in 2001.They wrote together material for sometime,before finally deciding to form a regular band.That would come in 2004 along with bassist Gerrit-Jan Bloemink, keyboardist Toine van Riesewijk and guitarist Henny van Veenendaal.However the long distance between home and rehearsal place would make Henny quit (still he made the artwork of the band) and soon Toine followed due to health problems.Keyboardist Erik Laan jumped on board and this four-piece line-up recorded Silhouette's debut ''A maze'',a self-production released in 2007.

An accesible offering in Neo/Symphonic Prog fields,''A maze'' holds similarities with plenty of bands of the Dutch Prog scene like CLIFFHANGER, FLAMBOROUGH HEAD, NOVEMBER, KNIGHT AREA and TIMELOCK.The compositions are based on elaborate melodies,melodic guitars and magnificent flashy synthesizers.Still the keyboard department offers some nice organ and mellotron as well.Vocals are decent but not something outstanding yet the vocal arrangements add some color to the sound.Some tracks have a ballad-like approach,even flirting with AOR,still the symphonic keys and strong guitar work make them far from being cheesy,the rest of the tracks are very energetic and rich with good solos and even majestic soundscapes.Surprisingly for a self-released work,the production is a plus as well,being very clear with a good mix of the instruments.

If melodic Neo/Symphonic Prog is your thing,you should think about adding this work in your collection.Catchy grooves are blended with powerful symphonic keyboards in Silhouette's debut to deliver a more than decent result.Recommended.

Not a mazing, but a good start

Having enjoyed Silhouette's current release "Across the Rubicon" immensely, I decided to venture back in their catalogue to this their début album. Released in 2007, "A maze" was several years and a line up change in the making, and even then it was self released significantly restricting its exposure. The album features nine tracks in all, the feature track being the 9 minute "Seize the night".

Taking their inspiration from the neo-prog of the eighties, there is a retro feel to songs such as the opening "Ocean of life", which has hints of bands as diverse as the Doors, Aphrodite's Child and Beggars Opera. The lush keyboards of Erik Laan and the fine acoustic and lead guitars of Brian de Graeve create the perfect foundations for the distinctive lead vocals of Jos Uffing. Vocal duties are actually shared between three of the four band members, all three being proficient singers in their own right.

Some tracks, such as "The lie" display a kind of charming naivety in prog terms, the track having pop nuances, striking synth and innocent vocals. Elsewhere, there are overtones of bands such as Talk Talk (their early years), to these ears at least. "Where Are You Now" is for the most part an enjoyable if unremarkable song, but it features an excellent synth passage which transforms the track.

The 8 minute "The World Is Gonna Get You" is the first song to really display the band's ambitions in prog terms. Here, the arrangement is more adventurous,taking a fairly straightforward upbeat rock number and embellishing it with soft flute like synth, (the obligatory) Hackett-esque lead guitar and shifting time signatures. While a bit rough round the edges, the track does give a good indication of the way the band would progress in the coming years.

The aforementioned "Seize the night" is indeed the highlight of the album, bringing together the various sounds and influences captured elsewhere on the album into fine mini-epic. Here, there is something of a Pallas feel to the music, especially in the impressive instrumental runs. The final track "Long distance love"has a ballad feel, with romantic lyrics and an anthemic pace.

Overall, an impressive début by these Dutch proggers. While the album as whole does suffer a bit from the home made nature of the production, this is more than offset by the quality of the music and the performances. More significantly, it points the way for the band to refine and develop their music on future albums.