KONOM

Retro Heavy Prog drawing comparisons from the likes of URIAH HEEP, FOREIGNER, ALLMAN BROTHERS, FATES WARNING, MYRATH, HEAD EAST and others, led by talented LOU GRAMM sound-alike vocalist Arya Bobaie.

1. "A Welcome Change" (10:35) Reminds me of ORPHANED LAND, HEAD EAST, IQ, MYRATH, AC/DC, and THE WHO, with Sammy Hagar singing. Solid, straightforward 1980s Prog Metal--even with the jazzy piano interlude in the sixth minute. Keys and guitar doubling up on the solo in the seventh minute is pretty cool. The final two or three minutes sound like a heavier IQ. (17.5/20)

2. "Birotunda" (7:20) opens like a WOBBLER or IQ song before turning URIAH HEEP/FOREIGNER/ RUSH/OZZIE-like before the end of the first minute. (13/15)

3. "As the Waters Rise" (9:34) Reminds me of ORPHANED LAND or MYRATH with Lou Gramm singing. The most proggy song on the album, with some heavily treated vocals during the second half verses. Nice peak at 8:15 (great Eddie Vedder-like vocal performance). Great song. (19/20)

4. "The Great Harvest (88.0) : i. Epiphany (3:54) acoustic guitar picking and dinking around with high-pitched drone in the background opens this one until the rest of the band jumps into drive at the end of the first minute. A RUSH- like heavy metal theme is quickly established--everybody firing on all cylinders in this awesome power weave until things turn down a more melody-driven street and then hit some heavier traffic. Nice guitar lead in the second half of the third minute before bass, guitar, and synth all synch together for a nice patch before RUSHing into a brick wall... (8.75/10) 5. "The Great Harvest: ii. Dilate My World (5:41) ... of piano and deep single note bass thrums over which Arya gives a great John Arch (Fates Warning) performance. Singers John Schlitt (Head East) and Queensrÿche's Geoff Tate also come to mind with this performance. Nice song; great arrangements and spacing, great guitar shredding at the end. (9.25/10) 6. "The Great Harvest: iii. Mutating Light" (2:40) racing off at high speed, we are taken into new territory before a sudden wormhole dumps us into an orb of crystalline acousticity. Nice--and quite unexpected. (4.5/5) 7. "The Great Harvest: iv. Reflections (6:50) now dumped into a spacious bass-dominated Richard Wright/Ambrosia- like soundstage before Arya joins in singing in a heart-felt plaintive performance before the metal brigade steps in at 2:15 when Arya goes Geddy-Lee-ballistic. Unfortunately, he's rather pitchy throughout this brief passage. (It's a very demanding section.) The ensuing instrumental section showcases Dan White's guitar rhythm prowess before it turns djenty. Keys are interesting beneath but perhaps a little too dominated by the guitars and bass. (More volume!) (13/15) 8. "The Great Harvest: v. Heedless Breath (5:24) starts out of the blocks sounding very much like a repeat of the heavier motif of the previous song. It remains RUSH-guitar-trio-centric for the first 90 seconds before the keyboards finally have a chance to sneak up to the front. The surprise here, to me, is that this, the album's final song, is playing out like an instrumental--but, then, at 2:22 the music downshifts into a more keyboard-washed melody over which Arya displays his full range of vocal talents (sounding, again, very much like Foreigner's Lou Gramm. I have to admit to being very much disappointed by this last song--the finale!--as it feels too by-the-numbers, too predictable and even generic. (8.5/10)

Total Time 51:58

B+/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection. Fans of early metal will probably find this album especially pleasing. Check it out!