BUILDINGS

Timelock is an interesting band from Holland that I had the opportunity to know sometime in the past two years. Although I found their songs of good quality a certain lack of overall direction on their CDs did not move me enough into writing a review. And I guess I wouldn´t bother to listen to their new stuff if my friend and PA colleague Henk (Progrules) didn´t recommend it. Since he knows my tastes fairly well I decided to take a shot.

Ok, this is not a very original stuff: simple, melodic rock with strong prog influences. What differs this new album from the previous ones is that they seem to find their style, as the CD as a whole has a very convincing sense of direction and appealing sound. And believe me, nowadays you don´t find too many albums that has strong cuts from beginning to end. I find it hard to compare them to other bands, but I guess there´s a kind of Saga feel on Buildings: like that group their tunes seem deceptively simple at the first listening while they are in fact very well craft and arranged. I specially like the guitar work of Ronald Demilt and also the very tasteful keyboards of Julian Driessen.

It´s hard to point a highlight, since most of the tracks are really precious small gems. I only wish the instrumental Ben Mundo could be longer and more well developed. The more experimental side of the group is also present on the two last tracks Moonchild and We Can Not (the Saga connection comes in mind again, but not quite).

Conclusion: very pleasant album and very promising too. If you like melodic rock with a prog twist, go for it! You won´t be disappointed. I´m looking forward to hear their next works. Not really essential on a site like PA (it would be a 5 star rating in a melodic rock one), but more than just good. 3,5 stars overall.