VIRIDITAS

Attention! Mental overload to be feared here! Had not known anything about this band from the United Kingdom when I came in touch with that album. But it's already the second one that conceptually is drawing on the probably known Mars trilogy. Originally delivered by Sci-Fi author Kim Stanley Robinson, and dealing with the survival of some idealistic Mars colonists. All in all this proves again that such a context set into music not automatically will lead into a generic improvisational space rock approach. Generally speaking there's a vibrant neo prog, symphonic and art rock blend in place actually. Where the predecessor bears a playing time of round about one hour, sheer exaggeration, they now have more than doubled it three years later. Enhanced by some more guests the line up appears to be the same.

Mission impossible? Which of these 17 songs should be emphasized here and now? Okay, after a proper half an hour warmup let's take the funky Small Boy In The Big City which is flowing with so much elegance basically. A couple of twists and turns embedded though anyhow, as one would expect from a progressive rock approach of course. Fantastic composition! Male (Mike Waters) and female (Julie Kvaerndrup, Hannah Bridge), partially solo, partially coupled, concerning the lead vocals it's all arranged with charme and variability. State Of The Art shines with extraordinary guitar presence. And then the story author himself contributes the narration on Ecotage. Man! With the extended Soletta they finally are sending off a complete fireworks towards the end of the album. 'Green Mars' proves that the VIRIDITAS inspiration isn't running out, nowhere near. This one should be part of every well sorted prog rock collection in consequence, regardless of the fact that the mandatory successor entitled 'Blue Mars' will appear sooner or later. 4.5 stars in upgrade waiting position. Simply a must.

Website info. "Green Mars is the second album release from Viriditas, like its predecessor Red Mars, Green Mars is loosely based on the events of the book of the same name by author Kim Stanley Robinson. The music portrays events and emotions drawn from the multitude of characters in the expansive and inspiring book, from the teenage runaway Nirgal on his journey of exploration and self-discovery, to the scientist Sax Russel, a diminutive introvert quietly working out a way to thwart the plans of the blundering planetary government."

The multitude of characters in the book inspired UK based sextet Viriditas (with guest musicians) to write varied and dynamic music featuring awesome work on keyboards and guitar, an excellent rhythm-section, lots of interesting musical ideas, and strong duo vocals (male and female), the lead male vocals reminds me in some tracks of Todd Rundgren.

My highlights on CD-1:

Between bombastic eruptions (Mellotron choir sound and fiery guitar) and mellow with tender Grand piano (evoking Yes and Spock's Beard in the more complex parts) in Green Mars.

From an atmospheric intro to a bombastic and powerful sound, with strong interplay (Gentle Giant-like), topped with exciting play on Hammond and electric guitar in The Timeslip / Zygote.

A swinging rhythm with duo vocals, then a swirling Hammond solo and powerful bass, next a kind of jam featuring percussion, Hammond and bass, and in the end a blistering guitar solo with heavy riffs in Small Boy In The Big City, wow!

Another swinging rhythm with strong vocals and excellent interplay (it sounds a bit funky), tastefully coloured with rock guitar and Hammond organ in Going Away.

A catchy beat featuring powerful Hammond and bass, strong vocals, halfway an exciting break with Hammond and rock guitar (evoking early Spock's Beard) in A New Face.

And a percussive keyboard sound with bombastic eruptions and heavy guitar, then mellow with female vocals, and finally again bombastic with a blistering guitar solo in Uncharted. My highlights on CD-2:

CD-2 starts with Nomads. First the distinctive sound of the clarinet, then a sultry atmosphere (like the Arabian influence in flamenco) with hypnotizing percussion and ethnic instruments (adding a special flavour) and orchestral keyboards (strings), how fascinating! Halfway a sumptuous outburst with heavy guitar, soon the mighty Hammond organ joins, the music has turned from mellow ethnic prog into Heavy Prog, another strong example of their interesting musical ideas.

After a short acoustic intro, a bombastic eruption follows with rock guitar and Hammond, then a mellow part with strong vocals, halfway rock guitar blends with lush vintage keyboards (Mellotron choirs, Minimoog and Hammond) in The Spinner, wow! From a dreamy climate with acoustic guitar and celestial female vocals (evoking the mellow side of Led Zeppelin) to an instrumental part with fiery guitar and Minimoog (Spock's Beard comes to my mind) in The Poet And The Mystic.

First a slow rhythm with the focus on jazz-oriented guitar, and a flashy Minimoog solo with pitchbend, then it is 'solo time' with a swinging Hammond, fiery guitar and mellow saxophone in Ecotage.

And finally a swinging rhythm with lots of shifting moods, embellished with rock guitar, Minimoog, Hammond and strong vocals in Soletta.

I am impressed by this second effort from Viriditas, what skills, ideas, variety and dynamics this promising new band presents!

This review was previously published on the website of Background Magazine, the oldest Dutch progrock source.

Viriditas is an unknown young prog rock band from UK formed from the ashes of another band from UK , but a progressive metal one named Acid Empire from where Mike Bridge on bass and Davis Stanton on guitars join forces from a new project.

Well Viriditas started around 2016 when Acid Empire was put on hold and released in 2018 their debut named Red mars - based upon events from the book of the same name by author Kim Stanley Robinson. Besides a great art work, gatefold cover, the music is no less exciting. Imagine a combinatation of old neo prog around early '90s specially from UK and dutch school of that time and floydian atmosphere. The sense of melody is well developed on all pieces combined with some technical waving parts, the vocal lines aswell are pretty good, specially on pieces like The killing (really really good vocal parts, from male vocalist) aswell instrumental sections and the longest pieces from here We See Red - 25 min pure bliss with nice shifting moods , all done in great manner, nice instrumental passages that showing potential in this band, somehow remaining unkown in prog circles so far.

All in all more then decent debut that worth investigated. 3 solid stars

A nice collection of rock-opera-like musical interpretations inspired by the Red Mars sci-fi writings of novelist Kim Stanley Robinson. The lead vocals of these talented young Brits are transferred among a rock-oriented (think URIAH HEEP) rotation of singers over the course of the story-telling songs.

1. "Red Mars" (3:23) electronica layers open as an introduction to this album overture to the theme. Guitars and rock elements join in and make their contributions over the final two minutes. (8/10)

2. "The Killing" (6:44) opens with a nicely apportioned rock thickness. A Zaher Zorgati (MYRATH)-like lead vocal steps in to take over the storytelling while guitars, synths, chunky bass, steady drums, and background vocalists support without getting in the way. I love the way everything in this song is understated, no bombastic or over-the-top performances even though it is a heavy prog production. I detect quite a little similarity to fellow British Neo Proggers IQ as the song goes on. (8.75/10)

3. "Ares" (6:26) opens with a theatric introduction before settling into a slide-guitar-based, PINK FLOYD-feeling song. The band's sense of melody here is superb with great chord changes to support and augment this beauty. Then, surprise, a gorgeous female voice opens up the vocal storytelling. Nice voice, Julie Kvaerndrup! With songs like this, VIRIDITAS is going to worm its way into my heart! It feels as if all of the band members here are truly invested and committed to the inspiring source material of their art. Wonderful to feel. Nice guitar work to finish. I only wish the song had tried to strike a little harder at some point. (9/10)

4. "Khalia" (8:00) A rocker that borders on hard rock but remains melodic and simple. Very URIAH HEEP sounding. Even the slowed down, spacious middle section retains that classic 70s prog feel--like BLUE 'YSTER CULT and URIAH HEEP. The alternating vocals of Julie Kvaerndrup here are a little weak--or perhaps mixed too quietly into the soundscape. (8/10)

5. "Blood On The Airwaves" (7:17) an unfortunate prog-by-numbers opening is fortunately uplifted by a wonderfully solid, melodic vocal section. Mike Waters' lead vocal is absolutely wonderful--in the same league as those of classic prog singers like David Byron and Eric Bloom. The instrumental passages, despite tight constructions, fail to lift us as high as they should. Same for the chorus/background vocal sections. (8.25/10)

6. "We See Red" (25:05) a whopper of an epic opens rather blandly with some very simple, straightforward rock and some not-very-engaging melodies. The shift at the end of the fifth minute offers Mike Waters the chance to win us over with an isolated vocal but the ensuing instrumental section fails to follow through at his level. Even the Buck Dharma-like guitar soloing fails because the basic structure below is not fresh or polished enough to suck us in. The DAVID GILMOUR-like solo guitar in the eighth and ninth minutes is very impressive--and this is where the song finally gets going, engaging us with another PINK FLOYD-like soundscape. The vocal works much better with this sonic palette; too bad the song structure is so simple and straightforward. This section goes on far too long before being bridged by quite a hopeful instrumental section into a softer, slightly faster section that has some really nice whole-band cohesion and spirit (16th minute). Finally, there's enough flourish and flair, both individually and collectively, to satisfy the prog lover. An instrumental section follows that will satisfy most Neo Prog lovers. A jazzy, bass-led section begins at 18:00 that feels like maybe we'll finally be able to forget the doldrums of the first ten minutes. Lead vocalist Julie Kvaerndrup's work is a nice change but too short-lived to really soar (plus, again, her voice is mixed rather deeply into the thick of the instruments). Not an epic I'll be recommending to others; too little soul and spirit. (7/10)

7. "Beyond The Reach Of Fools" (5:01) using a kind of 1980s heavy-prog sound palette (especially in the choice of the FLOCK OF SEAGULLS-like lead guitar sound), this song tries a little too hard to reach iconic proportions; there is a little too much of that 80s arrrogant Billy Idol-like attitude (whether real or faked). (8/10)

Total Time 61:56

3.5 stars; a good expression of some older prog rock styles and intentions. This is a talented collection of performers with tremendous potential as a band.