... TOT LICHT

First of all the art work is exceptional, very beautiful. As others have mentioned the music is all over the place.They switch gears so quickly and often that at times my head is spinning. This is a very talented group of musicians who are very much into progressive music themselves, and seem to want to cover every genre there is, so as to make everyone happy. At least it seems that way. I was reminded of SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM as well as Neal Morse's solo work, that's how diverse this record is.They thank Rick Wakeman in the liner notes who has been an encouragement to them.

The album begins with "System Manipulation" a song that starts off with some clapping and vocal melodies before we get the complex instrumental work. Female vocals arrive after 2 minutes with male vocals to follow. They contrast heavy passages with the lighter ones (with female vocals) the rest of the way. "Breathe" opens with heavy breathing and lyrics that talk about the subject of breathing in the air. Don't be afraid to care. Sorry wrong band. He sings "We are all breathing..." and then laughs.This song is led by the drums, and then led by the guitar before a dark and eerie passage 3 1/2 minutes in. Violin, sax, bass, percussion and drums lead the rest of the way. "P.E.S.A.N." is a pleasant song with male and female vocals singing gently together in their native language.

"Verso Kartini-Door Duisternis Tot Licht !" again contrasts the heavy and light passages so well. A flute solo comes in as heaviness comes and goes. Vocal melodies before a good guitar solo 13 1/2 minutes in followed by more flute. "Music For 5 Players" is an instrumental that recalls some of the chamber rock i have heard. "Anne" is the highlight for me on this album. So many styles of music are touched upon. So many tempo and mood shifts on this one.The guitarist peels off some solos early, while we get a classical flavour 4 minutes in. This is followed by a sax solo before we get a symphonic melody with piano and vocals. Some brief RUSH-like synths before 10 1/2 minutes. Some ripping guitar 13 minutes in. The symphonic passage returns 16 minutes in. It's the symphonic passages on this song that reminds me of Neal Morse.

If you want to listen to something completely different, that is played incredibly well check out this amazing band. For me it's a little too all over the place.