WATER BLUE

After hearing the excellent release from Theta, Seeds of The Dream, I found out their fantastic female singer had previously played in another japanese band. So I got the CD Water Blue (their sole release) and I was very pleased. Ok, this is far less original than Theta, but very good anyway. While Theta had quite a broad palette of influences, Vermilion Sands definitly draws their inspiration almost solely from the classic Renaissance of the 70´s. So, from the great female singer, to the acoustic guitars timbres and the Jon Camp-ish bass runs, everything here reminds of that famous english prog band.

Well, don´t get me wrong, they´re not really copycats. Their reason to be is saved by some japanese folk influences thrown in the mix here and there and the fact that the songwriting is quite good. Being a big fan of Renaissance myself I found this band to be very promising and Water Blue, quite a pleasant affair. Their use of the occasional electric guitar is a plus, but sadly they didn´t have a Jon Tout clone to match (who did have it, anyway?). My CD has some extra studio and live version bonus tracks. While not really up to the original album standards, they are a nice addtition and showed the band trying to steer away from the Renaissance´s shadow a bit more.

So, if you´re a fan of Renaissance styled bands, go for it. It is only a pity they did not had the opportunity to release a follow up. They certainly had the chops and a fantastic singer to match. Water Blue is quite good, but not really essential. 3,5 stars.