THE PLIGHT OF LADY OONA

Seven years ago I had the chance to make the first official review of ANTON ROOLAART'S debut album "Dreamer" the same day it was officially released and was a pleasant surprise. Since then, a friendship grew between us, but I was worried to never see a second album, because the debut one was really outstanding

The only problem I found then relied in the vocals (Not bad but more appropriate for Prog Metal), so I was a bit worried when I read that Anton was singing again, but for my surprise, the vocals in The Plight of Lady Oona" are impressive, instead of his previous aggressive style, ANTON ROOLAART, decided to use his voice in the style of Roger Waters, adding more texture to the dramatic atmosphere.

The visual impression of The Plight of Lady Oona" is very positive, because of the delicate cover painted by Anton himself and the carefully crafted booklet, but even when the art is very nice, we have to focus in the music, so let's pass to what matters....The music:

The record is opened by Gravity, a beautiful Prog power ballad where the vocals blend perfectly with the orchestral arrangements (played by Rave Tesar, and by Anton on synths and Mellotron) and the electric guitar with a "Gilmour" touch, creating a heavy atmosphere that falls over the listener as thick mist that covers us with a powerful blend of sounds and different moods. Asked Anton about the female voice on the song and he told me it was a sample called "Persian Diva", that he managed to adapt perfectly to the song.

In Stars Fall Down, Anton manages to maintain the oneiric atmosphere, but this time, the music is really dramatic, again the violin solos played on the Mellotron are simply breathtaking and the vocals heartbreaking, this album keeps getting better with each track..

The Plight Of Lady Oona is the central piece of the album, a fantastic 14 minutes epic that has everything a Symphonic fan loves, starting with Annie Haslam as guest vocalist, impressive keyboard solos, mandolin, acoustic guitar reminiscent of Steve Howe (Reminded me a bit of Turn of the Century, a killer rhythm section with Vinnie Puryear in the bass and Michael Frasche in the drums. Don't expect radical changes instead enjoy one of the most cohesive musical pieces of the decade.

In Standing in the Rain Anton maintains the dreamy and mysterious sound of the album, seems calmed, but the underlying aggressiveness provided by the almost claustrophobic atmosphere captivated me all along the song, the persistent drumming seem to announce a strong explosion that never occurs, but that's where the suspense really captured me

Memoires and the closer The Revealing Light complement perfectly, the first one almost as an acoustic guitar intro and the other as an emotional explosion where Anton retakes the sound of his debut...Great way to end a great album.

Now comes the hard part of the rating: Being that ANTON ROOLART is a good friend, people could believe that this relation influenced my review, but as I told Anton, I would never give the CD a star that I don´t believe the album deserves.

Seven years ago I rated Dreamer with 4 solid stars, but now Anton's music is more mature and offers us an almost flawless release that deserves no less than 5 solid stars...Hope we don't have to wait another seven years for the third record.