SCATTERED SHARDS

German band CRYSTAL PALACE are one of the many bands that have been around long enough to merit a description as veterans. This band has been an ongoing venture for more than 25 years at this point, and in the last few years it would appear that they have started to gain more recognition as well. "Scattered Shards" is their eighth studio production, and was released through German label Progressive Promotion Records in 2018.

Crystal Palace as of 2018 comes across as a band that has a good take in reinventing neo-progressive rock, mainly by way of adding liberal amounts of electronic and metal tinges to the material, and in a more flamboyant and expressive manner than on previous occasions at that, but this is also a band that doesn't shy away from including gentler touches pointing back to older musical traditions when they feel for it. Perhaps one of the most daring neo-progressive rock albums I have encountered in a while, and a production I suspect quite a few will regard as being more of a progressive metal album actually. A fine production though, and a core audience here would be those who enjoy neo-progressive rock just as much as progressive metal, at least in my opinion.