THE BRIDE SAID NO

Nad Sylvan is a US-born Swedish progressive rock artist, best known for his collaborative work with The Flower Kings' Roine Stolt on the symphonic project Agents of Mercy, and as the vocalist of Steve Hackett's band on the Genesis Revisited tours, mainly recognized for his idiosyncratic voice that strongly reminisces Peter Gabriel's 70s sound. Circulating in the world of music since his childhood, Sylvan has a couple of solo releases to his name prior to his exquisitely good 2017 effort 'The Bride Said No', his second album on Inside Out Music, and the second part of his Vampirate trilogy, a character and a storyline conceived by Nad himself.

This very interesting recording is a bit like a mini prog opera, developing the story of the aforementioned fictional vampire, the music is tremendously dramatic, pompous and rich with vibrant sounds and quirky melodies, all topped by the overly impressive vocal performance of the main man here, Nad Sylvan, who has written most of the music himself, too. It is the cast of guests and collaborators on 'The Bride Said No' that make it even more exciting - Roine Stolt, Steve Hackett, Tony Levin, Guthrie Govan, Nick D'Virgilio as well as a couple of female vocalists, everyone contributing something to the overall greatness of this hidden prog gem.

The album opens with the little 'Bridesmaids' instrumental piece leading to the keyboard-infested 'The Quartermaster', a very powerful and uplifting prog rock powerhouse of a song, developed around the main riff that Nad had in circulation for some years, in his own words. Simply a promising introduction to the rest of the record; Following this is the angelic 'When the Music Dies', a beautiful mellow composition that serves as a tribute to the greats of the musical world that have passed away. Then comes the Baroque-tinted 'The White Crown', a song which Sylvan uses to showcase his enviable vocal range, and a more guitar-oriented piece. 'What Have You Done' is a joyous mini-epic, slowly building-up and unfolding like something that has come out of the 'Wind and Wuthering'-era Genesis sessions. The next couple of songs are no less great - 'Crime of Passion' is very theatrical and even eerie, while 'A French Kiss in an Italian Caf' is just magical. The album closes off with the 12-minute title track, the apex of the whole story - haunting, intriguing, and entertaining, this is a pretty good example of all the things Nad does best, and these would, of course be, writing memorable melodies, expressing every single lyric cerebrally through his powerful voice, and surprising the listener with all the peculiar shifts taking place in his songs.

A highly recommended 2017 release, this has to be one of the hidden gems in the modern prog world; Nad Sylvan is an interesting artist who has a lot to showcase at this age of his, wearing his influences on his sleeves for sure, but also introducing his own personal ideas through gorgeous writing and instrumentation, reminiscing the best of the 70s.