THE FOUNTAIN BEYOND THE SUNRISE

Haters gonna hate. While some people reject Kyrie Eleison as Genesis-clone, I consider them one of the highlights o the symphonic story telling progressive rock. The Fountain Beyond The Sunrise is a masterpiece, and even influenced by Genesis, the songs are unique, and I think Genesis should be very proud to be the main influence for Kyrie Eleison, and if they could, they would probably try to steal these raw recordings as a masterpiece debut to their catalogue instead of the standard From Genesis To Revelation.

Let's start by the A Side. The first track, Out of Dimension, starts with a magnifiq symphonic intro, with a fantastic mood. The piano background when the vocal begins, teleports me to a magic landscape, and the guitar works are full of expression. That's what I call musical environment. This first song, as any other track of the album, is a lenghty one, ten minutes of trippy music, and it is full of variations. Some music passages can invade my mind hunting memories of old dreams, provoking a deep nostalgia feeling. Just close your eyes and listen to the song.

Next step is the title suite, The Fountain Beyond The Sunrise. Fourteen minutes divided into four sub sections: a) Reign b) Voices c) The Last Reign d) Autumn Song. Better than the previous track? This is amazing, but I can't say, I love both tracks. The organ, synth and stuff do the carnival and the rest of the band, drums and bass, especially the guitar, reminds me of Genesis, but not in a plagiarism form. I'm talking about progression, and play the right thing at the right time. They are very conscious of their own songwriting. The highlight of the track are the habilities of Michael Schubert, the vocalist. It's very theatrical when he changes the voice to a forced timbre according to the narration phrase and musical tone. I like to stare at this beautiful album cover and keep my imagination running with this track.

So we reached the B Side. Forgotten Words, the third track of the album, is the weakest track of the album. Not bad at all, folks. It's a track leaded by the piano. Almost nine minutes. The track gets better after the first half, with some heavy variations.

Lenny, the fourth and last track of the original album, is the beauty of the B Side. Seventeen minutes. Right after the intro, the organ symphonic sequence together with a powerful violent guitar riffage strikes. The bass is drums are frantic. Around 3:30" or something, is the first shift. The song calms down to a brilliant chorus, performed with feeling. The song changes again, and the progression keeps goin until the song returns to the furious and symphonic start line. Lenny has more different passages at the end. The solos of this track are really great. My CD copy features a lenghty bonus track (eleven minutes) called Mounting The Eternal Spiral. It would be a good song. It is a great song. But it's the kind of song that needs a better equalization. I am satisfied with this version, but unfortunnately most of the prog fans are too demanding with the recording quality. This is pure underground stuff. When you find a gem in the mine, you are not expecting the same stone you would buy easily in a store.

Yeah, they learned with Genesis. But they were able to write for themselves, and quite well!