D'ACCORD

D'ACCORD appeared on the scene like a beat of the drum when they released this production in Summer 2009. I didn't notice that directly but recently stumbled upon the album. Probably it may not work for every prog fan - but at least for me. If I should compare with other bands Diagonal would be a clue ... no, I won't call up the compositional aspect as such - the bands are surely differing with many things. Predominantly it's the special retro 70's attitude featuring intriguing vintage organ and piano work which impresses me.

The opening song Play By The Hall Rules starts like a quite simple rock n' roller reminiscent to the organ driven Deep Purple. But soon it all evolves to something tricky then ... the album highlight in my opinion. As for the spectacular reference (but only for that) comparable to 'Time Flies' from PorcupineTree's 'The Incident'. There is something epic here for sure - the song owns a special dramatic outfit passing through diverse twists and turns - finally even provided with a fantastic melancholic mellotron drenched part - Genesis reminiscent ... so they also drift into symphonic territories. A wonderful catchy workout!

Daniel Maage's voice is rather sophisticated and suits really fine - expressive, accentuated but also powerful - however the band also lives from the instrumental passages. Reaching the peak that early it's nearly impossible for the other songs to hold the same level. Did I mention Deep Purple before ... oh yes ... next song This is the One can be noted as adopting their style at best - and when Maage takes the flute even Ian Anderson's Tull come into my mind.

And then the album gets back closer to the trickiness of the opener. Again typical mellotron layers can be found on BiN - however the multiple guitar variations from heavy riffing, to jazzy and even psychedelic respectively spacey are striking here first and foremost. Coming to the next song it's time to play the blues. Time to Play could be also practically named 'Time to Sing' - partially polyphonic Daniel Maage shows his complete vocal bandwith here, supported by nice female background voices.

There's room enough though for the instruments to shine, speaking of guitar, piano but also uncanny saxophone additions. The playful Capitale Venditio blends relaxed periods, featuring a nice piano solo, and evocative parts where the guitar leads you through the transitions with much safety. No mistaking - some influences are quite clear - nevertheless D'ACCORD have reached for a unique outfit. Don't know why, but keyboarder Fredrik Hådn is not listed as a regular band member although he's a great benefit.

4 stars are well deserved for a strong skillful debut which holds a real masterpiece with 'Play by the Hall Rules'.