THE WINTER TREE

The Winter Tree is a project formed in 2010 by the leader of Magus and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Laitres (aka Andrew Robinson).Entering the group were his former Magus keyboardist Debbie Moore-Bond along with guitarist and singer Mark Bond.In February 2010 the trio entered the Mill and Hidden Valley Studios to record the first official release of the new project.A year of work passed and in 2011 The Winter Tree's self-titled debut sees the light on ProgRock Records.

Laitres' decision to change the name of Magus wasn't followed actually by a change in the previous music style.Furthermore there is no true development either, as The Winter Tree's music still sounds imitative of the music of PINK FLOYD, filled with mid-70's FLOYD-ian soundscapes, too much depending on lyrics and vocal harmonies and with not enough room for instrumental work, although you wouldn't call ''The Winter Tree'' the most accesible album of this mighty world.The overall sound is very close to the ''Wish you were here'' days with a smooth atmosphere, based on lyrical textures, spacey keyboards with a RICK WRIGHT vibe and mellow electric guitars.Laitres' produces some good melodies and the vocal work is rather sensitive with clear and decent voices, but the similarities with PINK FLOYD hurt the band's image.Some acoustic parts and sampled flutes have a light GENESIS flavor, while a couple of tracks lean towards Electronic Music with loops and synthesizers in evidence, making the album pretty diverse.What this work lacks though is trully strong songwriting and some passionate musicianship to support some of its rather nice melodious themes.The lack of originality is a problem too, but this one is also a minus for hunderds of bands being influenced by PINK FLOYD.

''The Winter Tree'' faces the same problem as most of Magus' efforts.Solid music to go along with a pair of smooth melodies, however the absence of some real instrumental power and the static timeline of the band's style hurt it as a result.I would still recommend this to dedicated fans of PINK FLOYD or similar-sounding groups...2.5 stars.