OFFWORLD

Xenn is a bit of an odd member of the neo progressive family. If it's neo at all ... Well, I will not start that debate in this review because that's our rule. Maybe I will in the forum one day. Why it's debatable ? Because this band sounds more spacey to me with just some neo elements there like the occasional instrumental bits and pieces.

The vocalist in the opening title track sounds pretty much like Yogi Lang of RPWL and the band sound is more like their fellow countrymen RIVERSIDE and all things considered it's indeed a sort of mix of Riverside and RPWL. And when I say Riverside I mean their spacey side and then of course Porcupine Tree comes to mind also maybe as third ranked comparison. Biggest difference between Xenn and Riverside is the versatility in sound that is really there with Riverside's music like metal and their almost symphonical epics besides their ambient space ballads. Xenn just plays a mix of the epical style with spacey softer music.

Their spacey impact has no doubt to do with the subject they are singing about. In Offworld things sound a bit different probably. Downside of this album is the lack of versatility like I already mentioned. It's a bit much of the same. If you like the style this album is recommendable of course and probably also if you like something else in the style of Riverside and Porcupine Tree but don't expect anything better than what those bands do. Three stars for this.