NEITHER IN HEAVEN

Heavy Neo Prog from a group of French Canadian prog veterans. Great sound engineering of wonderful Neo Prog soundscapes. A lot of ballad-like formats but, otherwise, nothing new here.

1. Neither In Heaven (2:40) 2. "Synesthesia" (13:09) nice climax/final two minutes. (21/25)

3. "Insane" (5:47) a hard-rocking instrumental that shows off a lot of the individual band members' skills but offers nothing really new or exciting. (7.25/10)

4. "Even Angels Sometimes Fall" (5:28) pretty with an AMBROSIA ballad feel to it. (8.75/10)

5. "Entering The Gallery" (3:41) bombastic opening before things calm down for Sylvain's vocal. Supported by piano and Michel St.-Père (MYSTERY)'s very bluesy-slide guitar. (7.75/10) Bleeds directly into:

6. "The Man On The Hill" (7:44) heavy, angular melodic and chord progressions set up a quiet section in which Sylvain Dexcôteaux sings in a power metal voice like he's in a 1980s metal band. Even the ensuing instrumental support is so 1980s metal (reminding me most of Hagar-era VAN HALEN)! (12/15)

7. "The Red Gypsy" (6:25) intro of Spanish guitar supported by synth washes is joined by piano and vocal before the end of the first minute. Full band joins in around 1:20, giving it a kind of mysterious pop feel (think The Eagles). Then synth and guitars lead in a gear shift into more classic 1980s hairband rock territory (Van Halen et al.). (7.75/10)

8. "Memories" (8:43) very touching first 2:20. Once fullness of music is engaged the band successfully maintains the feeling and emotional spectrum of the opening. Absolutely perfect use of Mellotron in the choruses. Masterful electric guitar soloing in the seventh minute (should we expect less?) (18/20) 9. I Held (3:35)

10. "Nor On Earth" (11:41) sounds like a good STEVEN WILSON/PORCUPINE TREE song ("Dark Matter"). Really! Very nice composition with perfect sound engineering. A little too derivative, though. And then there is the weird ending and spacious gap before two minute piano outro. (18/20)

Total time 68:53

B-/3.5 stars; an album worth checking out for yourselves.